Aam Aadmi Party - An Ordinary Party?

What a sensational debut! Of the kinds that can even leave the most successful sportsmen, musicians or actors gasp in awe, leave apart just the politicians. Nobody, quite literally nobody, would have given Arvind Kejriwal half of what he has achieved through his baby, AAP in the Delhi assembly polls. Political opponents laughed them off at every possible opportunity, media didn’t pay much attention to their on the ground histrionics and none (except one) of the exit polls projected anything substantial against them. So to achieve what they have achieved in their first outing is not only historic but brave and commendable too. Hats off Mr Kejriwal! Well done AAP!


What is even more heart warming is the fact that whatever success or popularity they have garnered is not just due to a strong anti-incumbency wave but also because a fresh bout of progressive thought process they have brought in for the common man. They have not just campaigned asking for votes but they have also gone out of their way, deployed their time, effort and money and worked for the common to make their lives better. They have not just promised freebies and big sops in their election manifesto but have also delivered some of them soon after taking charge. No wonder people have so much faith in them now, not just in Delhi but also across the nation. Everyone wants a piece of AAP infused governance in their lives and surprisingly politics isn’t a dirty word anymore. There is huge influx of people across all walks of society queuing up to join AAP with a vision to contribute towards the betterment of our nation. Such has been their impact, such has been a sense of hope they have inculcated in a common’s man mind.

But is it actually all so rosy and meritorious with AAP, as it looks? Certainly not. But then there is nothing that is picture perfect in this world and also we do have a knack of fault finding in anything and everything, howsoever good it might be. And if we compare whatever vices AAP/Kejriwal have, it would seem minuscule in comparison to other political players in the fray. Technically, they (AAP) have just started their journey and will naturally commit lot of mistakes and take at least some time before they substantially achieve any of their stated objectives. But personally I have found some of their moves post assembly poll results as shocking, not to undermine what they have achieved so far through their good work and bravado though.

At the first place, what was the hurry to form the government? The lamest excuse or explanation for that could be to avoid a re-election and save lot of public money. But I think they would have done much better or learned far more being in the opposition than actually sitting in the government. They have anyways done a great job by winning 28 seats in their first outing, they would have only become stronger had they chosen to sit in the opposition and act as a very strong and constructive opposition instead.

Secondly, why this alliance with Congress? One may say what’s wrong in allying with any party, if the overall agenda is focussed around progressive governance. But surprising, when the very basis of the formation of their party was to free the people from the shackles of so called corrupt and ineffective Congress (& BJP) leaders. Also when, AAP’s entire poll campaign revolved around abhorring the mis-deeds of Congress leaders by virtue of innumerable scams, exorbitantly high inflation and several other failures on all fronts, it seems all the more shocking. And most surprisingly when their leader (read Kejriwal) publically swore on her daughter that come what may he will never ally with Congress, it baffles one and all beyond understanding. One political defence around this could be that every politician backtracks on lot of such things post-election results. But wasn’t Mr Kejriwal supposed to be different from current breed of politicians? Wasn’t AAP supposed to be a party with a difference? I think a Congress free governance was one of the reason why a majority of voters voted for AAP. So isn’t this a cheating of a familiar sorts? Amusingly, Kejriwal went ahead and defended his alliance stating that we never went to Congress and asked for support, they came on their own and supported us. And that I believe is one of the most immature and hilarious statements he would have given in public till date.

And then a flurry of bloopers to add to it. In the lead up to the Delhi polls Kejriwal/AAP kept on emphasizing that they have enough proofs against Sheila Dikshit to frame her for corruption as soon as they come to power. But after taking charge when the leader of opposition Mr Harshvardhan asked Mr Kejriwal to take action against the former CM, Mr Kejriwal blatantly asked Mr Harshvardhan to provide him with the proofs against her and he will act on them. So where have your erstwhile proofs (that contributed in your coming to power) gone Mr Kejriwal?

A week after the oath taking ceremony, there was a press release from AAP that they will push for more reservations in colleges and government jobs. But weren’t you preaching about meritocracy all this while before coming to power? And then why this haste in providing freebies like free water and cheap electricity? Of course, it’s a welcome change for the common man but will it not impact the overall state budget or is it just to lure the people outside of Delhi towards them and increase the enrolments before the LokSabha polls through such popular antics.

On one hand their austerity moves like coming for oath ceremony by metro rail, not taking up government bungalows and vehicles, doing away with the ‘red batti’ culture is a refreshing change for the Indian politics but some of their outrageous bloopers make them look like any other political party of the past. But it hurts in their (AAP) case because as per them the very basis of their formation was to do away with such age old back flips and short sighted populism based politics.

But with AAP’s and Kejriwal’s growing popularity across the nation one thing is for sure that AAP will have a big impact in the upcoming 2014 general elections. And the biggest loser out of this AAP phenomena would be BJP, with Congress all set to enjoy this even in their downward spiral. And the way AAP has shown no reservations in allying with Congress in Delhi, don’t be surprised if we have a re-run of a Congress led government for another 5 years. And we all know what good Congress/UPA has done to our country in the last 10 years. Not that with BJP coming to power things will be all hunky dory but at least we will have some hope and may be a semblance of satisfaction that we have done our best in not repeating our mistake by re-electing the same government against whom we have been cribbing for a long time.

So if AAP & Kejriwal can stick to what they have promised through their idealist and pleasantly surprisingly refreshing manifesto and campaigning, it will not only do a lot of good to them in the longer run but more importantly, will also do a lot of favour to the people of this country. Otherwise it will remain to be Indian politics as usual.
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