India needs to be Modi-fied…For Now! Part -1

A series about the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the 3 main candidates for the hot seat.

Part 1- Arvind Kejriwal 

Jan 2013: As India and its political parties were gearing up for the upcoming elections, it was shaping up to be another BJP vs Congress fight at the Centre.  

The Man at the center of the storm

There was no other alternative. The Third Front was not going to be a major player. It had become quite clear on the BJP front that Narendra Modi was going to lead them into the elections. Although the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had not refuted claims of not contesting the elections, the general feeling within the Congress camp was that the time had come for Rahul Gandhi to lead. The people wanted a Modi vs Rahul battle at the centre. The media wanted a Modi vs Rahul battle. Even the BJP and some sections of the Congress wanted that, but alas the Madam Sonia Gandhi and a certain Mr. Arvind Kejriwal had some other plans.

Jan 2014: Wow! What a difference a year makes. 

The Delhi elections have changed the whole landscape of Indian politics. Never has a party risen so quickly to fame and power as the Aam Aadmi Party has. Arvind Kejriwal along with his ‘jhaadu’ has become the national symbol for the fight against corruption. What was hyped up to be a 2 way power struggle has now completely opened up. Even the Third Front looks like a viable alternative now. Regional leaders like Nitish Kumar, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati are daring to dream. The Aam Aadmi Party has given both the politicians and the people a new hope and a new agenda to fight with.

But what has really brought about this radical change? How can a common man rise out of nowhere to rule the capital of this great nation ? Well, the answer lies in the question itself- that he is a common man, or rather projected himself to be one. Mr. Kejriwal  was rather fortunate to graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur at a time when the Oracle's and Microsoft's of those times didn't offer exorbitant salaries like they do today. After all we classify a man as common or influential on the basis of wealth and not intellect, don't we ? He resigned from the IRS to take up social work. However he refused to fulfill the part of his contract which stated that he had to repay the part of his salary which he received when he was on educational leave if he left before the completion of 3 years of service. This man is fighting corruption today.

Contrary to what many think, his wasn't a case of an overnight success. He worked hard at the grassroots without much fame and public acknowledgement. He was instrumental in the enactment and implementation of the Right to Information(RTI) Act which has made the system a bit more transparent. He even received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his efforts. Along with Manish Sisodiya and Abhinandan Sekhri, he established the Public Cause Research Foundation, donating the prize money received as a seed fund in the NGO. But only when his association with Anna Hazare began did he start coming into recognition. The case of the JanLokpal Bill made him a media darling and when news broke of him separating from Team Anna and forming his own political party, the media had identified its prime time coverage content for the next year or so. The credit for AAP's success must go as much to the media as it goes to Kejriwal and his team.

I don't have anything against the man. His intentions may be good but having just a goal is not enough. Working towards it is the tough part and so far he has not done it the right way. When he worked with Anna Hazare it was okay for him to sit on 'dharnas' and 'anshans'. But ironically his fight for the common man has uplifted him from the tag of a commoner. He must realize that he is no longer Arvind Kejriwal- the activist who was fighting against the Government. He is Arvind Kejriwal - the Chief Minister. He is the Government( although Congress would like to disagree). As a Chief Minister he has certain rights and privileges which are necessary to conduct the office of that scale and magnitude. The public circus which followed on his rejection of the 2 spacious bungalows allotted to him by the Delhi government must have left a bad taste in his mouth. He would have understood by now that the same media which helped him rise to power could portray him as the villain within a span of days. 

According to media reports it was not the Delhi government which looked for Kejriwal's bungalows as said by him, instead it was he himself who searched for those bungalows and passed a proposal to the Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung for approval. All this within 42 hours of him being sworn as the Chief Minister of Delhi. The real issue is not that he needed those spacious 5 BHK bungalows, it is that he rejected it later under minor criticism and played it to his advantage; portraying himself to be austere. He had specifically mentioned in his election mandate that neither he nor any of his ministers would accept any of the government bungalows allotted to them. There are already a few chief ministers all over India who follow such austerity and they never publicize their actions nor are they highlighted in the news. West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee is one person who avails much less facilities than a Chief Minister is entitled to but that is never news. And mind you, Mr. Kejriwal is not the first Chief Minister to live in a not so lavish government house. In fact we have an incumbent Chief Minister of one of the north eastern states who has already done so. But again, that was never brought to light.

Going over his election mandate, I bet even Mr. Kejriwal realizes that he has made a few promises which are highly unrealistic. The public, the opposition and even their alleged allies know that well. The policy of water subsidies is not as revolutionary as it was thought to be. It is less than the promised 400 litres and normal rates apply if the quantity exceeds. The budget allotted for this scheme 464 crores and although the amount seems huge; it is just about 12% of the budget alocated to the DJB by the previous government under Sheila Dixit. The same goes for his policies of electricity consumption. So, financially it is not a strain till now. Yet subsidies are not the way to go in the future when resources are continuously depleting. It is an extremely short term solution and cannot be sustained in the long run. Modi fanatics vehemently point to this fact stating how AAP is all about false promises.

Arvind Kejriwal on dharna

His political ideology is borderline anarchism. Such policies will appease the people in the beginning, misleading them to believe that they have the power. Like Kejriwal said, "Today the people of Delhi are the Chief Minister". Then as chaos rolls on and the state is ruled without any direction, it is the same people who will give back the 'power' to these few men. It results in oligarchy and that is never suitable in  the modern day politics. India is the largest democracy of the world, but it is a representative democracy. The sole reason we have leaders is because public opinion is too fickle to make important decisions. As AAP found out the case for a Junta-Darbar is just not pragmatic. Therefore to hear someone as rational as Manish Sisodiya to say that police control in militant areas and the deployment of army force in J&K should be decided by referendums is baffling to say the least. It causes shivers to even imagine what effect such policies and ideas would have if implemented on a national scale.

His staunch defense of Somanth Bharti was even more astounding than the Law Minister's vigilantism. To barge into a house with residing foreign nationals which include women; along with a mob and without a proper warrant is insane. This alone is enough cause for suspension or resignation of the Law Minister in the 'crime capital' of the country. If the Law Minister himself doesn't follow the law then why should the aam aadmi ? After all according to AAP it is they who have the power. All this sets a bad precedent in a place where rape news is a norm. AAP's reaction was as expected. Whenever the media or certain sections of the society have questioned them, they have hit back with staunch defense of their ideals claiming it is a conspiracy to defame them. Every single time. Perhaps Mr. Kejriwal should stop cribbing and take notice of the situation in Syria. The much-heralded Arab Spring, which was expected to resonate on a Western democratic and pluralistic template, resulted in large-scale destabilization, the use of force and intervention in Libya and continuing chaos in Syria.

He has publicly defamed everyone from Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar to the Ambani brothers without any proof, asking us to trust our intelligence and his judgement. Yes, we all know these corporate honchos and political leaders have vast amounts of money in tax havens like Switzerland, but is it correct to publicly charge anyone when you don't have the necessary documents to support your claims ?  When recently asked about the criminal record of one of his members he said that just about anyone could go to the Lokpal and file a complaint, it would not make anyone a criminal. His hypocrisy makes him sound like a seasoned politician and does not bode well for people expecting an honest government from him. His schemes are highly populist and the proposal of 90 % reservation for local residents in Delhi University is just one among the many to please the masses. How is he different to many of the regional leaders then ?

We all agree that it has been just a month since their government was formed. It is too early to judge them, but the masses are impatient and they want results. However impractical it is to expect changes in 15 days, it is partly the AAP's fault because they had put those specific points in the election mandate. That is also the exact reason why they won 28 seats. People want quick changes and they expect the party to provide it. Mr. Kejriwal can't shy away from it now. AAP is striving towards what we all want- a corruption free and self sufficient India, but I do not agree with how they plan to achieve it. It wants to break the law rather than change it from within. It is intent on doling out free stuff rather than empowering people to be able to earn that stuff. That is not the change the youth wants. It was clear from  the beginning that they did not want to form the government and had to do it by unwillingly accepting support from the Congress. Their opponents knew they would not be able to deliver and would fail. Now it seems they want to fail without even trying.

Their focus is not on Delhi-the Union territory anymore, it is on Delhi-the capital of India. They have recently agreed to contest 350 Lok Sabha seats and even the most staunch AAP supporter would say that is being highly optimistic for a party which has just found its feet and does not have a national base. They have just started in Delhi and should have ideally contested the Lok Sabha elections after working in Delhi for 5 years and showing both their detractors and supporters that they can fulfill their promises. But this is Indian politics and if the Delhi Elections are anything to go by be ready to expect the unexpected. Still, in my honest opinion Kejriwal is not CM material yet let alone being a Prime Ministerial candidate. He needs an experience of 5-10 years in Indian politics before he can be considered as a candidate for the most high profile job in the country. They have ridden on the anti-Congress wave in Delhi and seriously dented BJP's numbers in the state. Will they be able to do it all over the country come May ?