A lot has been written about the Aam Aadmi Party and there will be a lot more in the coming weeks and months. Comments range from the fatuously feminist Sagarika Ghosh who questions why they call themselves 'Aadmi' to more evolved analysis about their aims and objectives.
In 2011 I had written about the Anna Hazare movement. The crux of the matter was that Kejriwal and his team had their eyes on a cleansing of the body politic. Or in a more gory analogy, thrusting a stake into the corrupt edifice that democracy has become in India. These objectives do not sound like evolution. They are revolutionary in intent and scope and that is the purpose of this post.
It is unfortunate that the major political parties have almost become clones of each other. The BJP may have a somewhat more right wing, Hindu supremacist agenda but its modus operandi is no different from the Congress. It was a telling moment when the political class closed ranks against Anna Hazare's movement. None of them really wanted an effective Lok Pal. It is another matter that the bill has now been passed to chalk up a few brownie points for the Government but I am prepared to wager that the effectiveness will be next to nil. The fact is that corruption and the related ills of inefficiency, wastefulness and lavish display have become part of our national culture. The shenanigans at Saifai conducted by the Yadav clan are a case in point.
AAP should not consider themselves to be a part of the political establishment just because they have won the Delhi elections. There is a charming naivete and idealism about the way they have started work in Delhi. This is as it should be. They are more of a people's movement rather than a political party. If they remain true to their original ethos they will achieve great things. A parallel is best drawn with the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Originally idealistic, it degenerated into totalitarianism in the Stalin era. Kejriwal runs the risk of becoming a fat cat complete with designer kurta pyjamas, SUV and gun toting guards if he decides to compromise on his principles. There will be strong temptation for him to do so especially in the heady aftermath of the Delhi elections.
For his sake and for the country's I wish that he continues to tread the straight, narrow and difficult path for it is the only path that can rescue our country from the morass that it has sunk into. Tagore's inspirational poem about constant, solitary endeavour 'Ekla Chalo Re' should be a beacon light for the organisation:
In 2011 I had written about the Anna Hazare movement. The crux of the matter was that Kejriwal and his team had their eyes on a cleansing of the body politic. Or in a more gory analogy, thrusting a stake into the corrupt edifice that democracy has become in India. These objectives do not sound like evolution. They are revolutionary in intent and scope and that is the purpose of this post.
It is unfortunate that the major political parties have almost become clones of each other. The BJP may have a somewhat more right wing, Hindu supremacist agenda but its modus operandi is no different from the Congress. It was a telling moment when the political class closed ranks against Anna Hazare's movement. None of them really wanted an effective Lok Pal. It is another matter that the bill has now been passed to chalk up a few brownie points for the Government but I am prepared to wager that the effectiveness will be next to nil. The fact is that corruption and the related ills of inefficiency, wastefulness and lavish display have become part of our national culture. The shenanigans at Saifai conducted by the Yadav clan are a case in point.
AAP should not consider themselves to be a part of the political establishment just because they have won the Delhi elections. There is a charming naivete and idealism about the way they have started work in Delhi. This is as it should be. They are more of a people's movement rather than a political party. If they remain true to their original ethos they will achieve great things. A parallel is best drawn with the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Originally idealistic, it degenerated into totalitarianism in the Stalin era. Kejriwal runs the risk of becoming a fat cat complete with designer kurta pyjamas, SUV and gun toting guards if he decides to compromise on his principles. There will be strong temptation for him to do so especially in the heady aftermath of the Delhi elections.
For his sake and for the country's I wish that he continues to tread the straight, narrow and difficult path for it is the only path that can rescue our country from the morass that it has sunk into. Tagore's inspirational poem about constant, solitary endeavour 'Ekla Chalo Re' should be a beacon light for the organisation:
- If they answer not to thy call walk alone
- If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
- O thou unlucky one,
- open thy mind and speak out alone.
- If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
- O thou unlucky one,
- trample the thorns under thy tread,
- and along the blood-lined track travel alone.
- If they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,
- O thou unlucky one,
- with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart,
- and let it burn alone.
thoughtful piece, this, sir...
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandeep
DeleteVery nicely and aptly put !! I wonder what people mean when they say AAP is inexperienced ..... 'inexperienced' at what ?? The debauched political ways ?? Isn't that good !?
ReplyDeleteGreat observation JP! I think we can do without the 'experience' of the established political parties.
DeleteGood one DB! While like all urban middle class, I too am happy to see them win Delhi I am waiting to hear more from them. They have indeed managed to create a constituency out of anti-political-establishment, anti-corruption sentiment. Good for them! What ails India today is much more than just corruption. In fact common man was happy to pay off the cop to get his passport in time or get his electricity meter repaired. The problem was always efficiency and not so much corruption. The big corruption scandals endemic in the last 3-4 years were of little concern to common public.
ReplyDeleteThe problems we face today are more of development and desperate slow down in policy making. While Modi is carrying a developmental agenda, AAP is yet to articulate how they will rid India of poverty. The few things we have seen/heard from them are depressing; Free water, Electricity, Audit of Telecom firms, No FDI in retail. These are throwbacks to the 90's before we started liberalising. If they are going to follow this populist agenda for development and draw other political parties to the same line, we are in for another difficult 5 years.
With lots of intellectuals joining AAP from all over India, one hopes that they will take time to build an agenda for themselves which is a little bit more than anti-corruption activism.
Cheer!
Shankar, the main thrust of my blog is to say that 'more of the same thing' is not good enough. There needs to be a discontinuity. There is a related point - the discontinuity is required not on outcomes but on process i.e. the way that things are done. While I agree that small incidents of corruption don't bother anyone, the point is that they are only representative of a deeper rot. Unless we address that - why does a Jal Board employee not do his work? Why does the electricity department not respond to a complaint? All these add up to a monumental apathy. These days the papers are full of how the municipal schools have filth overflowing in their compounds; how night shelters have no sanitation and so on. It needs someone to actually visit them, create a rucjus and make a change. I strongly believe in incremental improvements leading to a larger good. Very rarely do larger benefits arrive as if by magic. I hope that is the Mantra of the AAP.
DeleteRegarding populism, all I can say is that the AAP has a clearly thought through game plan. One may argue that they should implement their changes before dropping rates of electricity or water, but at least they do have a plan. The others have none apparently.
Finally, I for one do not agree that FDI in retail is a good thing for India. We have a large enough domestic market for local players to develop on their own. For example in Russia, the three largest retail chains are all local. All I can say is that these are debatable matters. Also, I don't feel that everything that AAP says or does is right. They have their problems and issues too.
You seem assured that AAP has a well thought out game plan. I hope so, even if its not apparent. That's what I meant, all their initial moves have been disappointing.
DeleteDelhi govt. has about 30 Cr surplus, this is all going to be blown on Water and Electricity subsidy. Delhi needs to lay new pipelines to deliver water to 40% of its households. This is going to cost. Since he is against privatisation of Public services, he will need to go to some International fund for a long-term loan plus some aid. This long term Dollar debt will cause additional burden on Delhi's economy. Hope he and his team has thought through all this. Since the key really is to provide water to all house-holds.
He wants to stop Delhi police from registering cases against Autos for refusing fare! I believe Auto's carried AAP posters free of cost, hence the quid pro quo.
You mention apathy of Govt. teachers, Municipal workers, DJB. This apathy too is a type of corruption but I did not hear AAP trying to fight is corruption of efficiency. There is no accountability of these Govt. employees. One of the suggestions I read was to make all the employees on Annual Contracts renewable on good performance. AAP actually wants to do the reverse, it wants to confirm Contract employees of DJB and DMC.
You reason for objection to FDI is different from that of AAP and BJP. You want Indian Entrepreneurs to step forward. But they have been trying since nearly 15 years now. Biyani and others have large businesses but are all bleeding. They desperately need funding not available in India. That's where FDI will go. Eventually Coke and Pepsi have become thoroughly Indian companies and have produced brilliant managers who are running other successful businesses.
BJP and AAP want to protect the Kirana shop. Who is illegally doing business from residential areas, causing desperate encroachment of public space, not paying any taxes of any kind at all. Why? Vote bank.
I haven't heard a single statement from anyone on India's critical need for planned urbanisation.
Like I said, I hope sensible people who are joining AAP now will be able to chart a better course for them and we will have a real alternative.
Regds
These are serious ideological differences. I don't think it's possible to bridge them easily in a conversation like this. The main point is this. AAP has been swept to power largely on an anti-corruption plank. It is fair to say that in essential services like water and power there is a HUGE amount of corruption at all levels. That corruption extends to private sector companies involved in power distribution as well. The key point is that Kejriwal is promising to reduce or eliminate this corruption by various ways including throwing the book at the discoms who have indeed been guilty of gold plating of assets and sale of power at throwaway prices to related companies. Similarly, the corruption in the Jal Board is monumental. All of us who live in Delhi have experienced this at first hand.
DeleteKejriwal is planning to do two things. Reduce corruption and redistribute the cost of the utilities. I think its eminently doable and in Marketing terms it is a coup. The Congress and BJP are running around to copy the strategy. For example look at Priya Dutt in Mumbai which by the way has much higher power tariffs than Delhi!
The AAP is left of centre - that is fairly clear. The decision not to allow retail FDI is a political one and I can understand if you don't agree. I just happen to believe that non essential consumer goods and retail don'y need FDI. Do you realise how much foreign exchange is repatriated by Pepsi and Coke as Dividend to their parent companies? Foe selling unhealthy sugar water! I ask you!
Debu, I think another potential significant impact of the AAP phenomenon is outside India. Many countries (including the US) are under a similar political malaise: powerful entrenched political parties that are clones of each other, including in their significant non-democratic corruptions, and a public that sees no hope or avenue to change this. If the AAP can pull off a meaningful positive change in India, then it would be an inspiration elsewhere as well, as an existence proof that change is possible.
ReplyDeleteI think the core of the thought is that true change of this magnitude is unlikely to come from within. It can only be brought about from outside. Unfortunately movements such as Anna Hazare's, The Arab Spring and even Occupy Wall Street tend to fizzle out as they do not have the political mandate to actually make a change.
DeleteThe reason why I have hope about Kejriwal is that he HAS entered the political arena. He will or may achieve something provided he sticks to his original objectives and strategy. The biggest disaster would be if he also became like the other political parties.
I really hope that he makes a difference. First in Delhi then maybe in the Lok Sabha and eventually, as you say, he may become an inspiration to the world!
I also thought same in the beginning but don't agree anymore. AAP is no different than other opportunistic parties floated by Lalu and Mulayam. It will be more dangerous because it is under total control of leftists who are out-rightly anti-national and support the agenda of Pak, China and CIA. They will be exposed very soon due to their close association with Cong which public will see everywhere during parliamentary elections.
ReplyDeleteAjay, what choice do we have? The Congress is riddled with poor governance and corruption. The BJP is not much better if you see the shenanigans in Karnataka for example. Modi is their beacon of hope but even he has several question marks around him. My point is that AAP appears to be more of a movement than a party. If they are true to their agenda and they do not get sucked into the morass of party politics they may actually make a significant difference.
DeleteDo people know that Arvind Kejriwal was awarded Magsaysay under "Emerging Leader" category, not under "Public Service" or "Community Leadership" categories. Moreover, do people know that this award itself was started in 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation - a close associate of the Ford Foundation, who openly donated large sums of money to AAP before elections. They recognized this guy very early and groomed him well.
ReplyDeleteFor our 'desi' janta, the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation are somewhat like the East India Company of the 17th century.
Debjit, just look at the contradiction of your comment and of Ajay's above. He feels that AAP is controlled by the left and you feel that he is controlled by the Americans! Who is right? My point is that after a very long time we are seeing a ray of hope that there will be a change from the factional politics that we have become used to. Let's give the AAP a chance!
DeleteWe are all gunning for AAP too early. Let us give them 90 days and less of interference from media. Having said this I want to bring out contradiction and Ahankar of Kejriwal. He says that AAP is by the people because they have elected him and will elect for better ruling all over the country. He represents the aspiration of the people because they have elected. His law minister is right inspite of indiction from high court because people of have elected. If this is acceptable should he also not accpet with grace that both Congress and BJP also are accepted by people at least in case of recent election people from 4 states have voted for BJP . Should that not merit consideration. IN my opinion He should stop talking about others and start showing results. If steve jobs had been only talking about all the phones and said how bad they were, and come out to people saying I will make a better phone no one would have trusted him. He gave better conputers, phone etc and if in future some one is going to give better products than that people will adopt. AAP is at this time ONLY a thought and a philosophy. It needs to be convereted to results not by doling out from surplus BUT BY EFFICIENTY.
ReplyDeleteAgreed with your first comment 'we are gunning for AAP too early'. Having said that, democracy is politics of the majority and it is not my pulse and opinion which matters Kejriwal, it is the pulse of the AAM ADMI on the street and the numbers who vote AAP which matters.
Delete