The AAP’s Defeat in VICTORY

Aadmi Party founder Arvind Kejriwal led the Times magazine readers’ poll of 100 most influential people 2014 in the world with pipping BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Modi and American singer Katy Perry – a fact unknown to most of our politicos in India.

In an editorial, the Pakistani news paper Dawn said that Kejriwal’s tenure lasted more than Vajpayee’s 13-day first stint as PM and advised Kejriwal ‘ to be more discreet and practice the art of the possible rather than go for the forbidden.’

True, he piggybacked on Hazare’s anti corruption movement and attracted nation-wide attention. However, after his 49 day government collapsed and he ‘ran away’, he was dubbed as an ‘anarchist, naxal, confrontationist and non-pragmatic activist staging dharnas against centre for shielding Delhi police personnel. Shinde, former Home Minister called him a ‘yad Mukhya Mantri (Mad Chief Minister). Even the president of India Pranab Mukherje criticized the AAP and underrated it with the comment that “populist anarchy cannot be a substitute for good governance.” Some cynical Pro-BJP elements even ridiculed the AAP as more of a movement and les of a political party and described the dharnas of Kejriwal as irresponsible to the extent of placing the national capital under siege.

His dharnas were even pooh-poohed as a cruel parody of the Gandhian idea of dharna. Salman Kurshid of the Congress has evensarcastically said that “Kejriwal’a AAP has jurassic ideas, no serious ideology and called some of its leaders third rate people across the country.” Yet, Kejriwal’s popularity suffered no dip but even built up the image of a selfless idealist bent on, what may, cleansing the system of its unaccountability, non-governance, glaring corruption and neo feudalism.

Despite many odds, especially Kejriwal-centric anti-APP campaign by more than a dozen BJP union ministers and 120 MPs along with PM Modi, Kejriwal’s success lay not only in his capability to tap into the growing disconnect between people and political leaders of all hues and parties, but also starting a discourse for greater inclusion of public opinion in policy making. AAP’s vision of decentralized and participatory governance attracted a nation, disgusted with the neo feudalistic mind-set of entrenched major parties like the Congress. The AAP also proved its strategic potential to play spoilsport to the chances of The BJP and the Congress.

The promise of systematic overhaul and transformative politics, involvement of apolitical middle classes and the participation of idealistic youth intent on inviting alternative politics and above all the way the AAP leader connected with the masses, the overwhelming response he received from the common man in the crowd, the kind of sincere and fervent appeal he made for a corruption – free governance from both the BJP and the Congress and the faith of Delhites in Kejriwal’s ability’ to dismantle abstract ideas into graspable actions made him a hero of the common man.

The utter faith of masses in him also strengthened his resolve to consign the more than century old Congress Party to the dustbin and even scared the BJP not to build up the image of its leaders beyond mythical proportions. No wonder, the entire world is now focusing its attention on the AAP and considering it the only party capable of bringing about a paradigm shift in Indian politics. The AAP, no doubt, appealed to many of the same groups that Modi attracted the youth, the urban middle classes, etal but Kejriwal, the muffler man, had his finger on the pulse of the Aam Aadmi and offered a radical change both inside and outside the political framework and is now all set to scaling up at national level.

In brief, he convinced the common man that he is a stake holder in Politics. Now coming to the BJP. What went wrong with it? Too much of Hindutva? Migration of vote banks from the dynasty-driven Congress Party to the AAP? Parachuting in a civil activist like Kiran Bedi who not long ago tarred both the Congress party and the BJP with the same brush but jumped on to the bandwagon of the BJP like a no holds barred opportunist and sullied her image beyond recovery? Are the dissensions within the BJP the cause for its massive drubbing? Whatever be the explanations of the demoralized and defeated candidates, the victory of the AAP is the victory of the common man. However, when AK decided to take on the mascot of development Mr Modi in Varanasi in 2014, he was demolished while his AAP was humbled. The Delhi poll victory 2015 resurrected him and his party from the ashes but as ill luck would have it, the party faced dissensions and the two major political parties BJP and Congress dismissed its chances of survival in the political arena.

The rift in the party dominated by a single persona was not unexpected. As in other political parties, ‘ A churning ‘ stared in AAP’s face. Anjali Damania ,an unsuccessful AAP contestant charged the leadership with resorting to the unfair means of poaching the Congress MLAs. AK’s loyalists demanded answers from the trio Shanti Bhushan,Prashat Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav who they alleged had a ‘vice like grip on the party. A recorded conversation with a journalist where in Yogendra Yadav tried to malign party’s image and portray Kejriwal as a dictator set the alarm bells ringing. Prashant Bhushan’s comments that ‘ Arvind lacked organizational abilities and the AAP under his domineering leadership had no internal democracy further worsened the matters.

Critics of the APP forecast that the AAP was in a self-destruct mode while political pundits said that the AAP was tripping on bloated egos. The astonishing ability of AK to script history by halting the juggernaut of Modi and dustbin the century-old Congress party was in danger of being brushed aside as a mere flash in the pan. Some political analysts struck the nail on its head saying that the differences of opinion are due to the AAP moving away from an academic leftist idealism represented by Bhushanand Yadav and Kejriwal adopting pragmatic policies of welfarism.The AAP’S loyalists even sensed lurking ambitions in Yadav to grab a larger role for himself and seize the post of national convenor.Prashant Bhushan wanted to be the ultimate authority in screening candidates and even wanted to black list 19 candidates.Much against his will,the ombudsman objected to only two candidate for the Assembly polls.

The learned Supreme Court lawyer was also accused of spreading rumors that the AAP would be losing polls and discouraging NIRs not to fund the AAP,The senior Shanti Bhushan stabbed the AAP in the back by openly supporting the candidature of KiranBedi. With such enemies as former MLA Rajesh Garg turning fulltime experts at creepy secret surveillance and recording all confidential conversations, the cup of misery for the AAP was full.

Should AK beat a retreat or assert himself to the extent of purging the party of anti-AAP elements and sacking the duo Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the Political Affairs Committee? Why did the intellectual Yadav and the legal luminary ignore the fact that the masses of Delhi forgave AK for running away from governance and again reposed their trust in his sincerity to usher in a welfare and delivery-oriented government ‘not beholden to special interests.The two statements of Arvind Kejriwal ‘ in the last elections,we won 28 seats and decided to contet elections across the country.God punished us for our arrogance and the LokSabha results made that clear,’’ and ‘I have fought Robert Vodra and Modi but how do I fight my own people? speak volumes of a humble crusader making a course correction and dedicating his life to usher in good governance, clean politics, development and corruption-free state.

By SM Kompella
The author is a retired professor from Kakinada