Done in by disconnect with masses

Unlike JP, the moralist, Kejriwal proved himself capable of convincing the common man that he is a stakeholder in politics. Though ridiculed as an anarchist, confrontationist, a leader of a party in the company of third rate people and a rebel without pause and a cause, Kejriwal earned a rare credibility (denied to most of the politicians of the day) as a selfless idealist bent on cleansing the political system of its decades-old corruption, non-governance and unaccountability

Connecting with the masses is an art while strategising electoral success is a science. This is where the Loksatta failed and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) succeeded.

In the context of the decision of the Loksatta to take a break from electoral politics, a comparison between it and the AAP is inevitable and even instructive for the budding politicians like Pawan Kalyan who toy with the idea of launching their political parties and occupying the centre-stage of politics overnight.

True, both the Loksatta of Jayaprakash Narayan and the AAP of Kejriwal started from the scratch as mass movements with a definite ideological programme to challenge the entrenched corrupt political establishments of the day, consign them to the dust bin of history and usher in an egalitarian society untainted by corruption, dynastic succession to power and socio-economic injustice.

The AAP, unlike the Loksatta, had a perceptible advantage as it was conceived and born out of India Against Corruption movement launched by a veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare whose crusade against corruption and non-accountability of a scam-tainted UPA had struck a chord with the masses across caste, class and religion in our country. A discredited and crest-fallen UPA bowed its head to the diktats of Anna Hazare. The followers of Anna who associated themselves with the movement became the credible faces of clean politics. No wonder, Kejriwal smelled it and seized the god-sent opportunity, and launched his political outfit AAP.

Kejriwal announced what seemed then as a utopian manifesto, outsmarted the wily ambitions of his fellow ideologues, decimated the juggernaut of the BJP in Delhi, and challenged even the Prime Minister of the day to face him electorally. In due course, the maverick muffler man graduated into a messiah of the middle-class people and marginalised sections of society and proved the indispensability of his role as a well-meaning politician.

True, JP of Loksatta, like Kejriwal of AAP, is an impeccable leader, astute administrator, profound intellectual and self-effacing civil activist who wanted to cleanse the putrid system of all its flaws and failings by educating the middle classes on the need to assert themselves and cry a halt to the perpetuation of socio-economic injustice.

The Loksatta failed to win over the downtrodden and the marginalised sections of society and was handicapped by the absence /dearth of political activists who could have presented the people with an alternative political system. In short, the Loksatta had well-educated leaders of character and integrity but suffered from the dearth of mass leaders to connect with people across caste and religion.

The middle-class people who welcomed its emergence with people-centric programmes grew skeptical of its ability to survive and sustain vis-à-vis the entrenched major political parties like the BJP and the Congress. The educated urban youth were also disillusioned with the fact that it was more a leader-based party than a cadre- based one.

Neither being the voice of the proletariat nor being the ally of the capitalist classes nor being a vociferous mouthpiece of the Left Wing or the Rightwing forces, the LokSatta faced a ‘crisis’ and a Hamletian dilemma of ‘to be or not to be’ in the mainstream politics that have been unabashedly thriving on casteism, money and muscle power and vote bank shenanigans. This is not to deny Loksatta its creditable achievements since its inception in 1996 in such spheres as Local Courts Law, Lokpal legislation, National Health Mission, disclosure of criminal antecedents of candidates, improvement of voter registration, strengthening the anti-defection provisions, Right to Information Act, cancellation of 2G spectrum licenses etc.

Unlike JP the intellectual, Kejriwal demonstrated an unrivalled political acumen in successfully tapping into the growing disconnect between the people and the discredited political establishment of the day. He started a discourse for greater inclusion of public opinion in policy making and presented a vision of decentralized and participatory governance. His well-crafted promise of systemic overhaul and transformative politics, unrivalled empathy with the middle class people and above all hitherto unheard of possibilities to dismantle abstract ideas into graspable actions made him a hero of the common man.

Unlike JP, the moralist, Kejriwal proved himself capable of convincing the common man that he is a stakeholder in politics. Though ridiculed as an anarchist, confrontationist, a leader of a party in the company of third rate people and a rebel without pause and a cause, Kejriwal earned a rare credibility (denied to most of the politicians of the day) as a selfless idealist bent on cleansing the political system of its decades-old corruption, non-governance and unaccountability.

It is indeed unfortunate and even pitiable that a well-meaning party like the Loksatta is taking a break from electoral politics. One wonders whether JP has failed the people, or the people have not grown wiser and more mature to opt for alternative politics, even after being ruled by successive corrupt regimes that cashed in on the short memory and gullibility of the illiterate masses.