For some, the reasons for AAP’s win are as assuring as the party’s win in the Delhi Assembly elections. For others, the 70-point action plan by the AAP seems dubious at best, and virtually impossible to achieve. Who is right?
NAVIN PANGTI // Bharat Ratna Lok Nayak Jayprakash Narayan called for Total Revolution in Bihar in the 1970s. JP, a disciple of Gandhi, was a social worker and freedom fighter. He was well-educated, having studied at universities like Berkeley and Iowa, and was influenced by socialist thoughts. He was also a Magsaysay awardee. The “revolution” that he led was driven by students — it was anti-Congress and saw the first non-Congress government at the Centre. But the revolution never took off. What remains of it are leaders such as Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sushil Kumar Modi and Ram Vilas Paswan.
Almost four decades later, the same Ramlila Maidan where JP once roared in front of a hundred thousand people, saw India against Corruption take birth. Like the Bihar movement, this was also India against Congress. Apart from students, this movement saw huge participation from working professionals and people from all walks of life. The subsequent turn of events suggest that it was a strategically designed movement, skilfully raising questions that only a certain political party could answer. The matrix was well laid but then some people decided to break the code. What emerged was a new political voice — an undesired outcome that was rubbished by many.
But the voice was here to stay. It made some initial breakthroughs, stumbled, fell and then rose again to tease the older political class. Instead of merely raising questions, this new political voice also uttered answers, which were not just political statements but action items, although some of them did sound utopian. But even if it is utopia, Delhi at least has a dream. It hopes to be free of petty corruption. It hopes to be peaceful. And the whole country is curiously watching it “change”.
Will the Aam Admi Party be able to deliver the promises it has made, or will it also end up creating mainstream politicians of tomorrow? I guess some loudmouths with the gift of gab may metamorphose into billboards of mainstream parties, but most of them may hang around to help realise the dreams. After all, Delhi is just a testing arena. The whole country, sick of corruption and petty politics, is eagerly waiting for positive changes that go beyond the rhetoric. Who does not want a peaceful neighbourhood, an honest playing field, equity and social harmony, efficient public services and so on? Even if the AAP is able to free Delhi from petty corruption, it will be a huge statement in itself. It will be welcomed with open arms across the nation.
But then, corruption runs deep. What we experience, as common folks, is just the tip of a giant iceberg. How will AAP uninstall the giant you-scratch-my-backand- I-will-scratch-yours nexus of politics, crime and industry? If this nexus of convenience is not broken, the AAP will be nothing more than a tough headmistress of a school filled with rowdy students who are well behaved only when she is there.
Decoding this part of matrix is going to be tough. And dangerous too!
A decentralised India, the swaraj that the AAP talks about is possible only when the mohalla sabhas of Delhi and gram sabhas across India find their relevance in the democratic landscape. Moreover, in the absence of big money to fight elections, the AAP needs these interventions. Empowering these institutions means empowering people. It also means redefining the set notions of development and growth.
Development, as we understand today, has a cost — environmental and human. The current system shuts its eyes towards those who have to pay the price for the socalled development. The voices coming from the AAP suggest that it wants to ensure that no one has to bear the brunt of development. Various voices of dissent that have been fighting for social equity are now part of the AAP. Some others are sitting on the fence, while many are watching curiously from a distance. AAP cannot afford to be Delhi-centric on this delicate issue. It needs to have a holistic voice with pan-India relevance.
What this means is that the AAP will have to act in a way that proves that Delhi is not the “purpose” of India but a speck in the landscape that defines India. What this also means is that Delhi will have to learn how to sacrifice. It can get free water but cannot waste it. It can get cheap power but cannot blow it. The AAP will have to also play a role in changing the mindset of its own constituency to remain viable in Delhi as well as India. They have raised the bar so they have no option but to take the leap. An honest Delhi in corrupt India does not make sense. An honest and equitable India is the only viable proposition for which AAP can work and exist. All the other seats are already taken!
VIKAS CHHABRA // The Aam Aadmi Party’s win is Delhi is not the outcome of some utopian dream come true. AAP mostly won on the basis of freebies and the promise of ending corruption. Unfortunately for the people, they didn’t understand what Arvind Kejriwal was actually promising. For instance, the party put big hoardings all over Delhi promising free Wi-Fi. No one questioned what it means.
Immediately after they won 67 out of 70 seats, the party says, it is not “free Wi-Fi”, it is “freely available Wi-Fi”. In a way this is a betrayal of promise to the people of Delhi. The party’s main points were that it will supply free water and subsidised power. Let’s talk about water, which is considered to be a moot point in the party’s manifesto. The two points to consider here are – does everyone get water, and what is the cost of this? There are so many places in Delhi that don’t get pipe water. In such places, a tanker comes and supplies water. The household that does not have a meter does not get pipe water and the question of supplying that household 20,000 litres just can’t be done since you can’t measure it.
Two, they have also said, it will be free upto 20,000 litres and after that the person will have to pay. The percentage of houses that have a meter and use less than 20,000 litres of water make for not more than 5 per cent, who will benefit from this. And who are the people who stand to lose? It’s those who live in places where there is no pipe water. Other households get some kind of subsidy on water, which will stop if they use more than 20,000 litres. But will this extra Rs 200 on the bill really matter for Delhi, which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world?
But the way AAP went about town saying we will do this and that had people influenced. But the truth will come out in the next three to four months. People had so many expectations from Narendra Modi. They went to the extent of saying that he will win all elections from now on – even those in 2019. And now they have shown him in Delhi that they weren’t too happy and chose Kejriwal. With the latter, the bar of people’s hopes has risen and there are huge expectations from him. And if things don’t get better… Summer is approaching, and you will see the water crunch in Delhi and it is be Kejriwal’s test then.
The BJP has no strategy for Delhi either. They just have to wait and watch and, in the meantime, try to serve the people in their constituency and also try to influence others. So it is all up to Kejriwal. If he doesn’t deliver, people will take to the streets.
I believe the kind of expectations he has raised in people are virtually impossible to meet. Corruption can’t be eradicated. It might be curtailed to an extent but you will have to change the entire system to put an end to it; it can’t happen overnight. And that is what Kejriwal is promising.
It has happened to him earlier as well, when he resigned. He had promised free water. The places where water goes by tanker questioned how they will get 20,000 litres. The public also gave the local MLAs a piece of its mind. The party soon realised that the demand for water is only going to increase in the coming months of April and May. To save face, the party decided to resign and ask for votes on the basis of whatever work they had done until now. The strategy didn’t work.
Now, after going back on its word about free Wi-Fi, the party now wants a coal mine to meet Delhi’s power needs. It’s also ironic how the party is against land acquisition — how can you open new schools if you are against land acquisition. And can you imagine the amount of land you need to set up a power plant? Not to forget the pollution in Delhi — a coal plant will make it worse and a gas power plant is going to be extremely costly. So the cost of the electricity generated will be more and people will have to pay more, too. These are questions that people are asking and no one is answering them.
They have promised lakhs of jobs. But if they are going to give all the money they have in subsidies, how will they generate employment opportunities? I am at a loss to understand how people bought these promises.
Have you also noticed how the AAP has disappeared from media – there are no AAP members giving any interviews or bytes, no party spokesperson talking to the media? Why? Because people will have questions to ask. Do they have answers?