‘We will bring down inflation, check corruption, fight crony capitalists’

Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia talks to Sanjay Kaw about his party’s immature decision to quit the Delhi government in 49 days, but adds that his party is all geared up for the Assembly elections in Delhi.

The Aam Aadmi Party is in the news again. Former Union law minister and AAP founding member Shanti Bhushan has criticised Arvind Kejriwal, your party’s convener, for lack of organisational skills and urged him to step down. Your comments.
The party does not agree with the comments made by Mr Bhushan on some TV channels. This political party was formed on the basic principle of internal democracy and tries its best to adhere to them at all levels. The criticism by Mr Bhushan, who is one of the founding members of the party, on this issue is misplaced. The biggest example of internal democracy is the party’s decision to contest Lok Sabha elections from a large number of seats despite opposition from Mr Kejriwal. Mr Bhushan is apparently unhappy with the party’s decision to not contest the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. Mr Bhushan has access to everyone in the party and his colleagues expect him to raise issues which he considers important with them. It is unfortunate that he aired his views publicly.

The AAP’s electrifying performance in the Delhi Assembly elections stunned the nation, but it failed to open its account in Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections. Why is that?
Our party does not represent any particular segment of the society. We are representatives of those who are aggrieved — because of corruption, inhumane culture, crime and other wrongs which have penetrated deep into our system. Our supporters include both rickshawpullers and top business persons. A majority of the business houses want to do business with honesty. But because of corruption, a few corporate houses are getting maximum benefits. We are against those corporate houses which are taking large chunks of honest tax-payers’ money through the wrong means. Our movement against corruption became the anthem of the common man’s aspirations. But as we were new entrants in politics, we were in a hurry. We forgot that people were appreciating our efforts against corruption. Delhiites were happy with the way we were handling day-to-day governance. But we thought Lokpal was central to our politics. Voters, however, did not accord top priority to this bill. It was political immaturity to quit the government over the Jan Lokpal Bill. People of the city wanted us to continue in the government, but we could not read the sentiments of our people. In the Lok Sabha elections, we failed to convey our achievements to the common man. That’s the space which was captured by the Bharatiya Janata Party. But now people are disillusioned with the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not talk about rapes, growing inflation and deaths which are taking place on our borders. Though our vote share went up in the Lok Sabha elections, because of the Modi wave we were not able to open our account in Delhi.

Do you think extreme media scrutiny of your 49-day government affected your party’s decision-making?
No. Media scrutiny is a must in any democratic set up. Once you are in government, you are bound to work 24x7. You have to be on your toes. We had set our priorities in the first five days itself. We were very clear in our decision-making from day one. But what is surprising is that the performance of governments in four other states which had also gone to polls with Delhi were not scrutinised by the media.

There are reports that your MLAs have been approached by the BJP?
The BJP had contacted 15 of our MLAs earlier and has now approached seven of our MLAs again. They are ready to pay them any amount. They are very desperate to form the government in Delhi. But our legislators have certain values and principles.

What are your expectations if fresh elections are held in Delhi?
In the last elections, there was a psychological fear in the people that we were not going to win more than five or six seats. Now people have overcome that fear. In fact, had fresh Assembly elections been held immediately after we resigned, people would have definitely appreciated us as we are not power-hungry.

Do you think that your party made a mistake by contesting in over 400 Lok Sabha seats?
We made no mistake by contesting from so many seats. There is no set route in politics. One has to choose a path and follow it.

How do you look at the AAP in the post-Lok Sabha era?
There was UPA-1 and UPA-2. And NDA-1 and NDA-2. There are no changes in the system. The Congress and the BJP are two sides of the same coin. The saffron party had only one dream — of coming to power at the Centre. They have no vision for India. What we want is a crime and corruption free country. We are like any other ordinary citizen of the country. We understand the aspirations of the common man better than any established political party. Ours is the fastest growing party in the post-Independence era. The Congress has become a non-entity in Delhi. Their protests are joined only by their party workers. But our protests are joined by the common man. That’s the difference between the AAP and other parties.

Many criticise Mr Kejriwal for using Anna Hazare for political gains.
Annaji is not a kid. I pity people who think so. Do you think Mr Kejriwal scripted this entire thing? If so, then Mr Kejriwal is a genius and geniuses don’t require the support of anyone.

There have been accusations that AAP leaders have become arrogant. Even Shazia Ilmi has said this.
There is no arrogance in any of us. Yes, mistakes do happen. Our decisions may have gone wrong. But we are following the path of truth, and truth is bound to prevail.

What promises are you going to make to Delhiites during the Assembly polls?
We will bring down inflation. We will check corruption. We will give subsidies only if they benefit the common man. We are against crony capitalists. We will take measures for the security of women, children and elder citizens.

Some within your party think that you would be a better choice for the chief ministership of Delhi.
This is a rumour being planted by our rivals. They want to create an impression that there are divisions in our party, but we are all united. We take collective decisions. We are not a bunch of foolish people who can fall in their trap.