Aam Aadmi comes to party

With the Aam Aadmi Party completing a week in government, and on the verge of announcing its national Ambitions, we take a look at what india’s most unique political experiment has meant

The Aam Aadmi Party came up primarily because of pent-up grievances against corruption and VIP culture — both of which attracted the attention of the mass media. Even people who were less politically inclined felt that politicians are venal in every department. This became the basic selling point of AAP.

People also felt that those who are plain and ideologically simple led the party. That is the reason why the party struck a chord with the masses. India and other parts of the world, too, have seen a significant shift in political participation in recent years on account of the fact that old baggage like caste, class, region and religion are not evocative as they once were.

This has brought about citizenship to the fore where cities have one issue in common and that is that they are receiving their entitlements as citizens. So, regardless of where they come from or what their backgrounds are, they felt shortchanged by the government.

They could have put their resentments in their back?pockets, but the mass media has continuously exposed corruption despite the fact that politicians were indifferent to such exposure. Therefore, people across the board felt a strong sense of revulsion.

Even the term “political class” has gained resonance because Parliamentarians and politicians have accumulated assets brazenly.
The AAP is not an overnight phenomenon. It grew on the grievances and on account of the manner in which the politicians behaved — with swagger, pomp and ceremony. It also drew its strength from anti-corruption rallies led by Anna Hazare in 2011.

Delhi may be an urban centre but, contrary to popular assumptions, it is not an island. People from all parts come here. Irrespective of being rich or poor, educated or unlettered, they all live side by side, though not amicably. Also, urban and rural India are no longer clearly segregated as they once were. Migration has played a role in this. In addition, non-agricultural activities have overwhelmed agriculture as a source of livelihood. What happens in urban India passes through rural India and vice?versa.

If the AAP has succeeded, it is because it has fought on the citizen plank. Interestingly, when one thinks of citizens and believes that their rights should not be subverted by myopic compulsion, he or she is equated with leftism. This is strange. There are capitalists, farmers and also labourers who have backed the AAP precisely because it promised to deliver citizenship to everyone.

Freebies in general are unwelcome because the delivery of such subsidies usually indicates a failure on the part of the politicians to get things done. Freebies are for a target group and that separates the population. Citizenship is against freebies, but freebies have an immediate appeal, which sometimes blinds politicians and sections of the public. In the long run, it is not only bad economics but also bad politics. Patronage serves citizenship.

In India, we have been fighting for over 60 years against freebies of one kind or the other and our success rate is quite dismal. If the AAP heads for a left turn, let it be in terms of advancing citizenship, providing universal health care and education and delivery of civic services. This is not an impossible task though a difficult one. It has happened in advanced democracies such as Austria, Sweden, Britain and Canada.

Money is a constraint and a constraint by definition has to be overcome. In the West, it was done successfully. As of now, the AAP is more of a movement and less of a political party. A movement is a peculiar phenomenon that when it becomes successful, it destroys itself.

The Congress movement got over once we secured Independence. The anti-apartheid movement came to an end with the dismantling of racism. It is then when some movements make a transition to a political party. The AAP is still a new phenomenon and is loaded with symbolism and goals of a movem-ent. This explains the centrality of the anti-corruption plank in AAP.

A movement does best when it operates in a small number of co-related ideas. Once the movement is successful and ends on a high note, it gains credibility to transform itself into a political party. If the AAP — now a political party — can show that anti-corruption can bring down prices apart from bettering social relationships between classes and people and if it can display that leaders don’t have to live like royalty, the party’s goals would have been achieved.

Then they have to work on a manifesto that is party-oriented that would enable them to concentrate on issues like urbanisation, resolution of disputes, international relations and military. Consequently, the AAP will become a multi-pronged organisation, which deals with a variety of phenomena that may not be mutually inter-related.

How people take to the AAP is yet to be determined. The Congress after Independence had to put a political programme in place that addressed a number of issues that were not with the freedom struggle. But that is the nature of a political party and AAP, too, will evolve in that direction.

Prof. Dipankar Gupta is Distinguished Professor, Shiv Nadar University, and Director, Centre for Public Affairs and Criticial Theory

Next: Polls 2014 will draw out the road mAAP

Polls 2014 will draw out the road mAAP

Raashid Alvi

People appear to be terribly upset because of corruption. The BJP makes allegations against the Congress and no one tries to find out whether the accusations are true or not. We make allegations against the BJP and then unfortunately the impression is generated among the people that all politicians are the same.

This is why the graph of the politicians is falling fast. People in general have no respect for politicians. If they pay even a bit of respect to any politician, they are doing so only to get their work done.

In Delhi, the anti-incumbency of 15 years of Congress rule and the anti-incumbency of the UPA government acted together in the recent?elections. The AAP managed to tell the people that the newly founded party was the real protector of the aam aadmi.

It seems Kejriwal has understood well the pulse of the people. It is not possible for any politician to climb the electric pole and cut wires or provide electricity to the poor. Kejriwal did it. Nobody was expecting that water and electricity issues might lead to the coronation of Kejriwal.

As far as the implementation of promises is concerned, the AAP is inexperienced. It will be very difficult for it to set the bureaucracy right. I will not hesitate to admit that in their hearts the AAP members want to do it. Only time will tell whether the heart of the AAP will dominate the minds of the bureaucracy or it will be the other way round.

The positive thing for the AAP is that the 2014 national elections are very close. I don’t think there will be any anti-incumbency against the AAP in the elections. How-ever, it would be wrong to conclude now, that after the elections, the AAP could prove to be an alternative to the national parties. Not only in Delhi but even in other metropolitan cities, the AAP may have its say in the elections.

The media in general and the electronic media in particular has supported the AAP. In the last seven days I have not seen a single picture of Narendra Modi. It was only Kejriwal. Here it is important to mention that Kejriwal turned down the 10-room bungalow after a media outcry. I do not know how farsighted Kejriwal is. Thus, it is my considered opinion that the media plays an important role in the formation of government and opinion-making. It would be difficult to predict the future of the AAP.

I remember that students from various colleges took over a state like Assam thro-ugh their movement. From their schoolrooms, they ente-red the Secretariat and the office of the Chief Minister. But today there is a question mark over the very existence of the Asom Gana Parishad, the party propelled by the students in the eighties.

There is another example in the form of the BSP?led by Ms Mayawati, which took over the reins in UP with the help of the BJP. Today the party is an important player. But there exists a basic difference:?The vote bank of the BSP is based on a particular caste, whereas the AAP does not have any captive vote base. They have broken the barriers of caste, creed, religion and region. How long these sentiments will last is difficult to predict. The destiny of the AAP will be decided only after the elections.

Raashid Alvi is a senior Congress leader
As told to Mukesh Ranjan

Next: It’s old whine in a new class

It’s old whine in a new class

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

In a democracy, you can’t sell dreams to the electorate. In the name of serving the people, the Aam Aadmi Party has taken the support of the very same Congress which was completely rejected by the Delhi electorate. So much so that the Chief Minister, who held the post for 15 years, lost her own seat by a huge margin.

It was a clear message that the Congress had lost the people’s trust.
The verdict in the Delhi Assembly polls and those in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan were a clear illustration of the distrust the people are feeling with the Congress and a proof of anti-incumbency against the Congress ruling at the Centre.

Initially, the AAP tried to project itself as a different political outfit. It attacked national parties to project that it was different from them, its poll documents had promises which were compiled after getting suggestions from the people, even whether or not it should form government in Delhi despite not having the numbers.

The AAP took the people’s opinion just to give the impression that it was for their sake that it was taking the plunge to form government. But how do you justify shaking hands with the very same political party which was rejected by the janata??And this when you had vehemently criticised it and its policies during your poll campaign?

When any new product comes in the market, which is projected in such a way that it can do wonders, its credibility is judged. If it fails to fulfil the promises that had been made, it is left exposed. Taking the Congress’s support was the first self goal that the AAP made.

Indian politics has earlier seen new political outfits leaving the poll pundits surprised and becoming an instant hit with the electorate. But most of these outfits failed to sustain as credibility and accountability, both are judged in politics.

Despite getting the highest number of seats in Delhi, the BJP took a stand that we would not form government as we were short of numbers. We took a stand and remained firm on it. We had been saying from day-one that the AAP is the Congress’s B-team. As there is a very strong anti-incumbency wave against the Congress, it cannot take the lead position. Therefore, it is supporting the AAP.

Everyone knows that the national mood is in favour of the BJP and our Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. The BJP-ruled states are the best example of good governance and development. We don’t sell dreams in our poll documents but remain connected with the people.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is national vice-president of the BJP
As told to Yojna Gusai