CHENNAI: Former BJP state president K Annamalai took another step towards transforming his ‘We The Leaders Foundation’ into a political entity on Friday with a promise to give women 50% representation in the state cabinet.“Half of the members in the cabinet should be our sisters,” he said at an event presenting ‘Kamaraj awards’ to women achievers.Abdul Kalam Centre for Ethics in Politics, an initiative of the foundation, will be inaugurated in Coimbatore on Oct 15 in the presence of members of former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s family. The centre aims to train more than one lakh men and women to participate in the forthcoming local body and assembly elections.“When this turns into a political party, we should contest elections without canvassing for votes. We should not be in the business of going from house to house with a microphone. Our task is to ensure that every vote comes to us on its own,” he said, calling for collective action to bring about political change at the grassroots.The foundation is working on putting in place 120 district units across Tamil Nadu. Each unit is expected to cover two to three assembly constituencies. Educated youngsters will be given preference in the proposed organisational structure, said Aspire K Swaminathan, general secretary (media) of the foundation.“Party formation is a legal procedure. We have begun work to strengthen the grassroots,” Swaminathan told TOI. More than 20 lakh volunteers have registered with the foundation since Annamalai’s exit from BJP in June.Annamalai has declared Oct as a month dedicated to women’s safety and empowerment. The foundation will conduct a four-week programme across the state focusing on women’s safety and justice, education, economic empowerment, health and wellbeing, and political participation. Society has failed to protect women, he said, referring to the child sexual abuse case against granite baron R Veeramani.Annamalai’s foundation will organise a 10km women’s marathon in Coimbatore on Oct 11. It has also planned a ‘pink marathon’ between 10pm and midnight. Earlier, it had organised environment protection and anti-drugs events. The foundation said volunteers collected about 600 tonnes of garbage and planted 12.74 lakh saplings across the state.
