The Resurrection
The Evolution
AK 1.0 – The Formative Years
AK 2.0 – The Activist
AK 3.0 – The Anarchist
AK 4.0 – The inexperienced collegiate politician and AAP 1.0
AK 5.0 – The Wannabe Giant Slayer
AK 6.0 – The reinvention of AK and AAP 2.0
AK 7.0 - The David who beat Goliath
AK the “Once Upon a Time Aam Aadmi”
Lessons learned and looking ahead
Lessons learned and looking ahead
On Policy Matters
Money, money, money
Money, money, money
The Resurrection:
The unprecedented result of the elections in Dilli took
both supporters and skeptics by surprise. After the events preceding the Lok
Sabha elections, the ensuing disastrous results, followed by the in fighting,
the defections that took place, talk of cronyism in the party, the cult around
Arvind Kejriwal and criticisms of his dictatorial style; the widespread
perception was that the party had imploded. AK was vilified by the press and
summarily crucified. But AK prevailed, he apologized, he reinvented himself and
led his party to victory. With that a new dawn has arisen for both AAP and
India.
The election in Dilli brought forth a new Class of
Voter, who was not bound by caste, community and religion. People voted for
participatory democracy, to improve the quality of their lives, for good
governance, for the opportunity to fulfill their aspirations, and putting a
stop to rampant corruption. Despite the dissolution of the Assembly and
imposition of Lt. Governor’s rule, elected AAP MLAs, volunteers and even those
candidates who lost, engaged with their constituencies, listened to their
issues and delivered what they could. As one spokesperson mentioned, initially
they were upset that elections were postponed, but then they made good use of
the lapse in time and it all paid off in the end.
The Evolution:
Arvind Kejriwal is
a man of many avatars. With each avatar he grew in stature. Many setbacks cut
him in size; only to rebound and overcome the many adverse situations he faced.
Along with him the party that he founded has undergone a transformational
process and emerged as the victor in Dilli, rising from the dire straits it
found itself.
AK 1.0 – The Formative
Years:
AK graduated from the IIT Kharagpur, majoring in
mechanical engineering. He joined Tata Steel. After a short
stint, AK resigned to join the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) as a Joint Commissioner in the Income Tax Department having qualified through the Civil
Services Examination. Alarmed
by the corruption in the Income Tax Department he transitioned into his next avatar
and moved on.
AK 2.0 – The
Activist:
AK along with
Manish Sisodia and others founded Parivartan, a movement that campaigned
against corruption using the Right to Information Act. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award recognizing him as an emergent leader. He
donated his prize money as a corpus fund to found the Public Cause Research Foundation. AK’s next move
was to go National with his anti-corruption movement.
AK 3.0 – The
Anarchist:
AK teamed up with Anna
Hazare to agitate for the Lokpal Legislation. He was joined by Kiran Bedi and
Justice Santosh Hegde. While Anna Hazare did all the heavy lifting by fasting
and jeopardizing his health, AK’s vociferous condemnation of rampant corruption
enabled him to gain National and International recognition.
In this avatar, AK
threw caution to the wind and accused numerous people for being corrupt. At
times he was like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, shouting, “Off with his
head”. He is
indulging in “Shoot and Scoot” yelled the critics. They essentially played into
AK’s hands in giving him and AAP the publicity resulting in the building up of Brand
AAP. Besides the prevailing situation is “Shoot and Stuck” with cases languishing
in the judicial system for years. The “taking of names” and “making allegations” subsequently landed him
in jail during a later avatar, due to a quirk in Indian laws. For awhile he
refused making bail and highlighted the fact that he should not have been arrested
in the first place. The defamation suit filed by Nitin Gadkari, taught him a
lesson, that one better be absolutely sure before publicly accusing a person.
Note to activists; “Be hard and resolute on the issues, but avoid taking names
of individuals or political parties.”
The Lokpal movement
made some progress in getting a scaled down version passed, but AK was
dissatisfied. AK was heard often saying, the Lokpal Bill as defined would not
even arrest a mouse. Say what? The Lokpal Bill formulated by this group cast a
wider net than it should have. For instance it blanketed State bureaucrats and
politicians as well. This was legally in violation of the Federal nature of
India’s constitution. In this matter the Center has no jurisdiction in the
State regarding State personnel. Moreover, India does have anti-corruption agencies,
most notably the CBI, CVC, ACB etc.. Albeit the CBI has been widely lampooned
as the Caged Bird of India. A pragmatic approach would have been to fight for
policies that prevent these organizations from political interference. The
major criticism of Lokpal was the creation of yet another ombudsman to oversee
existing organizations.
AK 4.0 – The
inexperienced collegiate politician and AAP 1.0:
During
the Lokpal movement, politicians often chided AK, saying laws cannot be made on
the streets and that Parliament reigned supreme. Fair enough, AK decided to
from a political party. He had a falling out with Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi on
this initiative. Justice Hegde left the movement. And so the Aam Aadmi Party
was formed to fight against corruption and for the common man. The Jaadu
symbolized the intent to clean up extensive corruption in the system. This was
AAP 1.0 that formed a minority government that lasted 49 days. The
inexperienced AK functioned as a collegiate union member. Having entered the halls
of politics he didn’t shed his previous avatar. As an agitator he was a
spectator of a system that was rigged and steeped in corruption. Having entered
the system as CM, he found he was stone walled and in frustration he resorted
to a Dharna, in which the insider resorted to the behavior of a spectator. In
that he was an insider behaving like an outsider. His constant portrayal of
himself as a humble aam aadmi was not in step with the larger than life image that
he had accomplished by becoming the Chief Minister. It became evident that AK’s
shoes had become too large for him. Not only did he not grow to fit into these
shoes, his leadership style stifled the growth of others. His abrupt
resignation took everyone by surprise and earned him the moniker – Baghoda.
AK 5.0 – The
Wannabe Giant Slayer:
AK decided to
contest the Lok Sabha elections and go national. To many this was viewed as a
futile move. However, it was a successful in building the AAP brand. AK could
have stood for election from a safe seat and got elected to Parliament. But he
decided to take on Modi in Varanasi. The move got him and AAP an abundance of publicity.
Despite the dismal performance in the LS election AAP gained national and
international recognition. There is no such thing as bad publicity. In matters
of brand building, being recognized is the first step. Once that is
accomplished there are many ways in which it can be improved. In this avatar AK
came to be known as the Muffler man. One bright young man labeled the primary
contestants as Bluffer, Duffer and Muffler.
The participation
in the Lok Sabha elections attracted all kinds of people to the party. Besides
genuine volunteers, there were opportunists, misfits from other parties and
more. The controversies surrounding AAP State Chapters were aired in the open
both prior to and after the Lok Sabha an election. Disputes reported in the
press are no secret. With the disappointing results of the Lok Sabha elections
the detractors left on their own accord and the faithful remained. In hind
sight, the participation in the Lok Sabha elections, though premature, served
as a trial by fire and enabled the party to retain and form a strong core from
which it can now grow.
AK 6.0 – The
reinvention of AK and AAP 2.0:
This was the most painful phase for AK and
the Aam Aadmi Party. Prior to regrouping, AK ran to the Lt. Governor to ask for
another chance to reform a minority government. This appeared to be like an
immature act of a child who rejected a toy given to him, only to relent and
plead for it back. This did not happen. Embarrassing as it was, in hind sight
it was a good thing that led to the resurrection of the party.
AK 7.0 - The David
who beat Goliath:
With AAP in power in Dilli, just beneath
the nose of Prime Minister Modi, the people of Dilli have sent a strong message
to the BJP, to perform and deliver on their promises. It also puts the onus on
AAP to do the same. It is a rope that binds both parties together.
AK the “Once Upon a Time Aam Aadmi”:
AK needs a make over. He needs to step into the large shoes
Dilli voters have given him and also allow others to grow. All this, "I am an
Aam Admi" stuff has to stop. Instead it should be cast as, “I have been
fortunate and my goal is to enable ordinary people to realize their
aspirations. I was one such person. So was our PM. I was like you, now I am
fighting for you”. The message has to positioned as, “I am for the Aam
Aadmi as opposed to I am an Aam Aadmi”.
Absolute statements corral one into a corner; statements such
as, “We will not give or take support”. The door ought to be always kept open
for options that may arise. As the saying goes the end justifies the means and
the challenge is to maintain the set of guiding principles while being flexible
without violating them.
Share the limelight. Establish a decision making process that
includes diverse inputs that “sifts” through opinions and only includes the
best of the best.
Lessons learned and looking ahead:
|
The victory in Dilli has profound
implications for AAP at the national level. State chapters have now been gifted
an opportunity to coalesce, regroup, rebuild themselves and reemerge as a
responsible political party that can make a difference.
The participation in the Lok Sabha
elections attracted all kinds of people to the party. Besides genuine
volunteers, there were opportunists, misfits from other parties, moles and
more. The controversies surrounding AAP, both prior to and after the Lok Sabha
elections, were aired in the open, reported in the press, and that is no
secret. With the disappointing results of the Lok Sabha elections the
detractors left on their own accord and the faithful remained. In hind sight,
the participation in the Lok Sabha elections, though premature, served as a
trial by fire and enabled the party to retain and form a strong core from which
it can now grow.
The message for AAP
chapters all over the country is a call to action; to engage with their
constituencies, listen to their issues and fight for their cause. Dilli is not
India and India is not Dilli. India is still welded to caste, religion and
community politics. The old guard and old allegiances holds sway, however there
is an impatient youth population that aspires for more and has the energy
waiting to be tapped. AAP has to firmly position itself as the party of the 21st
Century that appeals to progressive people who are fed up and frustrated with
the political practices of the past century. Just as in Dilli, each chapter has
to build itself from the ground up and establish a firm base. The party has
been given a second chance to position itself with an agenda that is
pro-people, pro-progress, pro-environment, pro-good governance,
pro-transparency and resolutely against corruption. It is a tough road ahead
and par for the course for people dedicated to work towards a bright future for
India.
On Policy Matters:
India is still hampered by the colonial system that the
British left behind. It was a system based on mistrust of Indian administrators
who were the proxies of the masters. They Brits left and Indians by adopting
and perpetuating that system became the new masters instead of servants of the
people.
Liberalization changed the game while not changing the
policies required to curb corruption. As a result the country got hurt, scams
abounded, and Indians are constantly crying over spilled milk. It was like
asking a child who is accustomed to playing tennis ball cricket, asked to play
hard ball cricket without protective gear.
Bottom line the Indian Administration System is a rule
based system where rules benefitting the rulers are enforced and rules
benefitting the citizens are flaunted. Until we revamp the rules and get rid of
this colonial yoke around our necks, India will stumble and lumber along
instead of zooming ahead. Change the rules to empower the people to
progress responsibly, enforce them and we will see the progress we
desire. States have a lot of power in establishing these rules and AAP has
the opportunity to do so in Dilli.
Money, money, money:
Dilli is awash with money and benefits from both Central and
“State” level spending. Dilli has been exploiting India financially. It is done
in the name of Asiad, Metro, IG Airport, Commonwealth Games and scams. The
people of India need to know what this spending is in comparison to the other States.
AAP can bring transparency to this issue.
In summary, providence has smiled on AK and AAP. Promises were
made and the time has come to deliver.
Inqulab Zindabad. Bharat Mata ki Jai. Aam Aadmi Party Ki Jai!
The author acknowledges Wikipedia as a reference.
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