The people have spoken, and how!

The people of Delhi have created history; they have written a new chapter in Indian politics, a chapter of rebellion, a chapter of hope and a chapter that has lessons for the ruled and the rulers in a democracy.

They have clearly, and loudly, rung out a warning to politicians not to take the voters for granted, not to misinterpret their mandate as the BJP has done and importantly, not to tamper with the hoary traditions of the country, a civilisation that has, from time immemorial, believed and practised inclusiveness, co-existence and diversity of thought and beliefs.

The historical verdict is the first-of-its-kind: never before in the 68 years of electoral democracy has such a sweeping victory been recorded, not by N T Rama Rao, who swept Telugu Desam Party to power within nine months of its formation on the slogan of “Telugu self-respect”; not by Rajiv Gandhi in the background of the assassination of his mother Mrs Indira Gandhi; not by the Janata Party in the wake of the end of the Emergency in 1977; not by the Congress under Mrs Gandhi that was swept into power in 1980 following the ineffective rule of the Janata Party.

No party, either national or regional, has ever been elected to office with a vote share of 55 per cent. If anything, this is the demonstration of people’s power in absolute terms.

The power of money (that flowed like water, in a manner of saying), of propaganda, of media exposure and, of course, the power of thousands and thousands from Sangh Parivar, failed miserably to make any impact in the face of the fairly simple message of an honest government, of sincere service to the people and a real concern for the underdog sent out by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Arvind Kejriwal. The (much eulogised) strategising power of Amit Shah, the power of the promises of the self-proclaimed Development Messiah Modi, the power in fact the entire Union Government in the form of 128 ruling party MPs and 25 Cabinet Ministers that were sent out to woo the voters failed to cover up the truth of the BJP and the Modi government that they were champions of promises that they failed to deliver. The truth was that Modi was behaving like a monarch, rather than of an ordinary chaiwalla that he proclaimed loudly to be. This was more than evident as the communal agenda came to the fore in the form of Ghar Wapsi, abusing the Muslims, attacks on Churches, asking Hindu women to beget more children as their national duty, declaring Bhagvad Gita as the national book (whatever it means), and dropping of the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ from the advertisements of the government that carried the Preamble of the Constitution on the occasion of the Republic Day.

Clearly, this government seemed to have lost its way. Or to be a little more uncharitable, it had taken the people for a ride in the general election by promising development, growth, jobs and overall, a shining future for the people of India.

The Indian voter has spoken yet again against concentrating power in the hands of one individual or political party by bringing the BJP and Modi to the ground and by giving an opportunity to the opposition parties to get their act together.

If the BJP dug its own grave, how did AAP rise from the ashes, like the Phoenix? True, the people were disappointed that the Kejriwal government resigned after 49 days of rule; the allegation that he ran away from responsibility rung true to their ears. Kejriwal not only admitted that he had been naive and politically inexperienced and had made a mistake, he apologised for his mistake, not once or twice but again and again, whenever he addressed the voters.

Importantly, he and AAP connected with the people, understood their frustrations and empathised with them for facing and fighting challenges on a daily basis. He voiced their disgust at the doings of the political class as a whole; he voiced their desire for a responsive administration; for effective policing; for security; he understood that the people’s demands were basically for good and responsible governance that would translate into more affordable and efficient services such as public transport, power supply, water supply and, if anything, AAP’s formidable victory puts a huge responsibility on the government it is going to form: of providing the people with a corruption-free government, a people-sensitive administration, and of a system that is open, transparent and accountable.

Can one see this verdict as one that opens the doors to alternative politics? Can we put behind politics of the rich, for the rich but in the name of the poor? Can honest and good people now consider entering public life rather than avoid it, as they did all these years, as a cesspool of corruption, dirty tricks and downright deceit? AAP has shown that this is not outside the realm of possibility. We can now hope because the people of Delhi have restored our faith in ourselves, in our democracy and in the most outstanding and sustaining heritage of our civilisation, celebration of diversity and plurality.

By: Prof P L Vishweshwer Rao