“It sounds ambitious to say that we are targeting the next elections, but its definitely feasible if we get the kind of support we are looking at," said RV Krishnan, 55, who runs a market research bureau and who is the driving force behind the party.

The genesis of the idea apparently came about when Krishnan tried to put together an ideal manifesto for a political party in India, only to realise that there were none who fit the bill. He then started talking to other like-minded and concerned professionals-- and PPI was born. The party has now applied for registration to the Election Commission and whilst awaiting that formal recognition, is moving ahead with its agenda of spreading awareness in the public and getting more professionals to enroll. “Our final goal is that one day we will have 540 -plus patriotic, capable, honest, professional individuals in the Indian Parliament who will run this country in an effective manner," added Girish Deshpande, entrepreneur and owner of a travel concern who is one of the members of the party.

Sundeep Gupta, 32, a member of the PPI's core group and an IT professional with Conexant Systems added that most of the professionals in the party were in the age group of 30 to 40 and all infused with the desire of making a difference in the country.

“Like most middle class people I never thought I would join politics of all things. But after learning about PPI, I realized that either people like me should stop complaining about the way the country is run or get down to doing something to change it. Also I feel when a company can be run so efficiently by professionals, why can't the same system be applied to the nation?" added KK Iyer, 45, an IT professional who has started his own soft skills teaching venture in Pune after working for 22 years in the US.

According to Krishnan what sets apart PPI from other such similar initiatives the country is that theirs is not a personality driven party and thus devoid of sycophancy. “A very important difference is that we are not looking at the masses for support like every political party does, because the masses can be easily bought. We are targeting the 1200 million that belong to India's educated middle class and are counting on their votes. Also we do not want to be known as an NGO because 80 per cent of the NGOs in the country today are the beneficiaries of the corrupt system that is there," said Krishnan.

The party hopes to be funded by membership fees and contributions by individuals and corporate houses who feel the need for the change. “The bottom line is that every problem of this country can be solved if there is the political will to do it. But we have not seen that will in the last 60 years. So now it's up to us to provide it," added Krishnan.

The PPI meets on the second Friday of every month at the Nagarwala school in Kalyani Nagar.