The dramatic emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the recent political landscape has signaled that the Indian Democracy is beginning to mature. I realize that this is a big claim. There are myriads of questions about the future of AAP that need to be answered. But, at the same time there are serveral opportunities that are also emerging. There is no denying that the Indian politics is in a state of flux and it will never go back to business as usual. The objective of this article is to rationally analyze what is happening?
Brief Reflection of the Past
You can inherit (or borrow from others with some tailoring) the Constitution, you can inherit the institutions of Democracy, you can even inherit the executive and financial systems but you cannot inherit Democracy. The principles of democracy have to be learned, internalized and put in daily practice one step at a time. This takes commitment, discipline, perseverance and time.
We inherited democracy from the British and we began implementing it like British. The British Democracy as implemented in Britain is not the same as it was implemented in India. We certainly had the intelligence to understand it but we did not have the commitment and discipline to “Indianize” it. The results can be seen in the debacles of the past 40+ years.
Those with money and power hijacked the democracy and have been using it for personal gains. With over 37 per cent of the population essentially uneducated and un-empowered, it was easy to exploit them on a variety of grounds including religion, caste, creed, regionalism, language, enticements and false promises during the election periods.
Once the “elite” were elected, the electorates were essentially told to shut up and put up for the next 5 years only to have this vicious cycle start all over again. The institutions of Democracy appeared to be same from the outside but were hollowed from within. The educated and the middle class stayed on the side line and watched this debacle. They were shocked at first and then buried their heads in the sand hoping it will not affect them.
The spectacle of corruption in Indian democracy is despicable and most parties including the Congress and BJP are guilty of it. The platforms, manifestos and issues are only for electioneering and are essentially discarded immediately thereafter. The primary driving force is to come to power and form the government. If you cannot, then make deals with any other party, regardless of their background, manifestos and track record, and form a government.
This is what our current honorable Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, calls the “Coalition Dharma”. Once the government is formed, all the “victors” enjoy the spoils of the victory. This is not any different than our “glorious” past. Only the violence of the battles has been replaced by the treachery of the “Indian” democracy. I realize that these are strong words and not all actions from these parties are selfish and corrupt but they have inflicted so much damage to all of us in the name of democracy that I do not feel any remorse in saying it.
Anna Hazare Movement
The corruption combined with the ineptness of the UPA reached epidemic proportions. The middle class and the educated could not bear to stand on the sidelines. A spark was needed to draw them in. It was provided by the Anna Hazare movement of 2011 to bring in Jan Lokpal to provide systemic restraints to unchecked corruption by the politicians and the bureaucrats. It started drawing masses in great numbers.
This was further empowered by the technological advancements in electronic media: internet, cellular phones, Facebook, Twitter, television etc. to bring in all concerned citizens to join in. The political establishment was startled. The UPA dug in to oppose the Jan Lokpal and proposed instead its own ineffective pacifier, the so called “Jokepal”. BJP on the other hand provided lip support to Anna Hazare to capitalize on the new wave. Soon thereafter, Anna Ji, who is a patriot, a simple man dedicated to his country, but not apt in dealing with the politicians was deceived and neutralized by the UPA.
There is no doubt, if we examine what has happened in the Parliament since then, virtually all the parties, particularly Congress and BJP have no commitment to passing any effective Lokpal Bill. The current bill tabled in the Rajya Sabha is an exercise to pacify the public and take credit. Strange things are happening right now. Both, Congress and BJP are “very concerned” all of a sudden about passing a Lokpal bill. BJP ran to Anna Ji to show its support for him.
When I saw Kapil Sibal and P. Chidambaram walking on the stage with Rahul Gandhi to emphasize how important Lokpal Bill is to wipe out corruption in the country, I could not help but remember the same people mocking the Civil Society representatives two years ago. What brought about the change in their DNA? Politics is truly an amazing arena – it bares your soul.
UPA and NDA repeatedly asserted that Civil Society is an extra constitutional organization and it has no right to agitate people and compel the Parliament to pass any particular legislation. Once the electorates have voted “us” in, we the “Parliament” are the sovereign – not the people and they should get out of the way.
They challenged the Civil Society to form their own party and contest elections. With Peoples Representation Act in sad state of affairs as it is now, the incredible amount of money and organization as required today to contest an election, they made the obvious conclusion that the Civil Society agitators, common people with no money and organization, would be helplessly outmuscled and trounced in the elections.
They had created and thrived in their own paradigm. They made the classic mistake of ages that has destroyed the proud and the mighty in the past. They could not think out of the box. No set of rules are absolute. Anything can be re-engineered from the bottom up with a different set of rules.
Emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party
During the year 2012, from the grass roots of the Civil Society of the Hazare movement an incubation of a political organization started taking place. The very synthesis of this organization was different than others. It was not started by established old stalwarts with national prominence. Most of the elements that gravitated into this formation are previously uninvolved, disenchanted with status quo, nonpolitical young people with very little financial resources.
What they lacked in money, they more than made up with ideals, dreams, enthusiasm, intellect, drive and commitment. They could easily see through the convoluted logic used by the established parties to support their selfish motives in the name of democracy. They systemically devised approach to dismantle each of these claims and laid out a platform for a party with clearly defined manifesto(s) that would be the foundation of an accountable and transparent government. None of these are extraordinary achievements that people in the existing parties could not think of.
The real difference here is that these ideas of democracy were spawned by the pressing needs of the desperate people of this country and not inherited from British or the west. I am not being critical of British. I am merely stating that Indians have to transform their thinking and “Indianize” their democracy to solve the problems that are specific to India. The framework of democracy can be borrowed from others but its approach has to be tailored to our needs. What works in Britain and USA may not necessarily work in India.
Eventually this incubation went through the metamorphosis into what is now well known as the Aam Aadmi party.
That is a very good question. A lot is unknown about them: How cohesive as a group are they? What would keep them from not becoming opportunists like the existing parties? What makes them so morally righteous? Do they know how to transform ideals into programs and accomplishments? We can list a hundred more questions like these about them. They are in no position to offer any concrete answers right now. Only time will tell.
I will attempt to answer the above question as objectively as I can.
First: We have been so exploited and abused by our politicians so far that we have turned cynical. Anything new is seen as another twisted version of the old. We roll our eyes and exclaim “here they go again”. We have to be careful in our cynicism. Otherwise it will lead us to a blind alley with no way out. We have to keep our outlook open for any genuine change that may provide a fresh solution.
We have to cautiously watch the new developments, study them carefully, question them wherever appropriate and support them progressively if they make sense. Any new opportunity starts small as a fledgling before it becomes a watershed event in retrospect. The mark of a progressive society is to recognize it early and support it cautiously.
Second: The people of Delhi overwhelmingly supported them. It cannot be overemphasized that what happened in Delhi elections this December was a historical event. An infant party with practically no financial resources, made up of bunch of young people from all walks of life, from all across the country and the world captured the imagination of people in Delhi, understood their concerns, touched their hearts and compelled them to turn out in huge numbers and vote for them. They didn’t care if these guys were playing the game of a spoiler and had no chance of winning, as Congress and BJP had warned them.
Third: Congress and BJP, who were ridiculing AAP before the elections are now beginning to imitate them. This is not necessarily a great compliment to AAP to have these tainted parties imitate them, but it is still worth noting. What changed their hearts so suddenly? Rahul Gandhi said he had learned a lesson from AAP and will take actions that will surprise everyone.
This is an awkward statement. What is new about what AAP is doing? Didn’t he know that issue based politics and transparent and accountable government is what people have been demanding for decades? He will surprise himself more than anyone else when he tries to implement these changes in his party. It is simply not in the DNA of the Congress party to assimilate any of this. Too little - too late!
It is also amusing to see the awkward repositioning attempts of BJP post Delhi elections. They would not engage in any backroom politics of enticing the MLAs from AAP or Congress with money and positions to form their government. They are taking the high road this time. The Indian electorates have awakened and see through all these petty moves. The more they try to act honest the more absurd they look. They have been exposed and find it very difficult to create a new cover.
It was amusing to see Arun Jaitely run to Anna Hazare to express BJP’s support for the Lokpal bill currently before the Rajya Sabha. There is a race to do something “good” to shout about in the coming elections. BJP should not forget that people are equally fed up with them. The only reason they are getting the support in the recent elections is that people are disgusted with Congress and find BJP as the only alternative so far. That is about to change now and certainly more so in the future.
Politics in India is changing. There is a transformation taking place in the Indian democracy. It is not going to be the business as usual. New opportunities are appearing on an otherwise dark horizon. We need to be watchful and welcome and support any new efforts that empower us and give us a brighter future. All eyes are glued on the Aam Aadmi Party right now. Would they deliver? Would we be watchful in working for our own deliverance?
In the next article we will look into the Strategies and Action Plans that the Aam Adami Party needs to take to ensure its success.
Mature Democracy & Principles
Every democracy in the world is founded on some core principles. These are well known to all of us yet we tend not to emphasize them in the hours of crisis. To begin with in democracy the government is of the people, by the people and for the people. The people are the ultimate sovereign.
There is a Constitution and there are institutions to maintain, uphold and enforce that constitution. All these institutions are of the people, by the people and for the people. What is described above forms the core of the democratic principles. It turns out that during the functioning of the government there are genuinely different views to achieve the desired goals and objectives. Each of these views operates within the core democratic principles.
Therefore we can have various parties who can sit in opposition. The purpose of the opposition party is not to oppose the ruling party on each and every subject with the objective of wrestling the power away from it. It is, instead, to insure that the whole system operates within the core democratic principles and there is a choice for the people for a better governance if they so decide in the future.
In an ideal mature democracy the system always operates within the above framework. It is always a work in process with modifications, refinements and corrections in the system that steer it to reach this goal. The very simple rule of thumb is to remember “of the people, by the people and for the people”. The government has to be accountable to the people and transparent to the people. If any actions by the institutions do not meet one or more of these criteria, we are deviating from the core.
I realize that I am painfully repeating what is obvious to most of us. But the truth is that we forget it often and become susceptible to the convoluted logic of many sly political leaders.
Now, take the case of the Indian democracy. How many actions taken by our institutions of governance pass this test? You be the judge. I am not going to waste time dwelling on it. In the worst form of democracy, the institutions of governance become a collective entity by themselves divorced from the people and work feverishly to preserve, protect and promote their interests. How close are we to this form of democracy? You be the judge!
Immediate Challenges for AAP
The AAP is facing difficult choices. They can form a minority government that might last for a few months and try to accomplish whatever little they can before they are toppled. The seasoned opposition is waiting for this and baiting them to take a bite. It can be argued, nevertheless, that this is a reasonable option for AAP. They have to tread it carefully. Their decisions are critical at this juncture and any major mistake will snap this seedling. Their decision to ask from Congress and BJP as to what position they take on major points of AAP manifesto is also a good one.
They have to tone down their language though. Harsh language is for political campaigning, not for exchange of ideas. AAP is smart enough to know that any answers they receive would be purely technical and evasive but they would come in handy during the campaigning for the follow up election if their decision to form an immediate government is short lived. All the political savvy, sly language and smart moves backfire if they are exposed to the public. Transparency is the only weapon AAP has to fight these opposition moves. Transparency also takes us toward a mature democracy.
Another charge from Congress and BJP is that AAP was running away from the responsibility of forming a government in Delhi with the “unconditional” support from the “erstwhile” Congress. The AAP decided to reach out to its constituents to get their input on this subject. Nitin Gadkari of BJP called this action a mockery of democracy and had a few other choice words for the AAP leaders. Perhaps in his view the right democratic option for AAP was what BJP had done in these situations in the past – indulge in the closed door negotiations with the opponents and do hose trading of core platform manifestos to form the government and come to power at any price.
In most western democracies (I am not claiming they are ideal – they have their own problems and challenges – but they are far more effective and responsive than ours) there are referendums during the elections on major issues that people directly vote upon. Sometimes these referendums are carried out independent of general elections if deemed important enough. There are frequent televised public hearings on important issues. The point is that there are steps to promote accountability and transparency in the government.
One can argue that there is no effective way to take input from people without conducting another election. This is not necessarily true. Typically those who feel strongly in favor or opposite will show up to offer their views if given a forum. I recall Congress leaders telling us that only a few lakh people turned up to support Anna Hazare movement and that was not representative of crores of Indians that had voted them in power. Now they have found out that a few lakhs can tell you what crores are thinking. No wonder now they are running to Anna Hazare to support the Lokpal Bill and take credit for it. It is a good policy to stay in touch with the pulse of the people.
For the past four decades the parties that have shared the power in India have lost connection with the core democratic principles and find it strange when a new comer wants to pursue them. Oddly, most of the public have also lost touch of this basic fact and find the actions of AAP strange and lunatic. We do not appreciate that it essentially empowers us to participate in the democracy. We are simply not used to it.
If AAP receives overwhelming support from the people to form either a minority government or one with outside support of Congress, they should go ahead and do so. If they earnestly carry out their manifesto, stay accountable and transparent with the people, they should not face any adverse consequences if their government is toppled and re-elections held in the near future.
Broader Role of AAP
India has been governed by two major parties: Congress and BJP with various alliances. Both these parties have indulged into scores of corrupt practices over the past four decades. The specter of coalition only further aggravates this situation. There have been many occasions in the past when one of these emerged with clear majority. The problem was that the ruling party and the principal opposition were both corrupt to begin with. Hence nothing got accomplished. It is critical that at least one of the parties (ruling or opposition) is relatively free of corruption in order for democracy to function properly.
Otherwise, as has been the case in the past, on all critical issues they essentially collude to serve their self-interest. The only visible difference is in their pursuit to gain the power. There is a faint opportunity now to create a third front with some adherence to transparency and accountability. We cannot be indifferent to this development.
Let us speculate as to what might happen in the near future. UPA is corrupt and inept. People appear to be fed up with it. They are looking for an alternative. Narendra Modi has appeared on the horizon. Selection of Narendra Modi was a master move accomplished by Rajnath Singh. Modi is a newcomer for the central political scene. He is perceived as personally honest, hardworking, decisive and committed to growth with ability to mobilize the government and the bureaucracy.
This is lot more than can be said about Dr. Manmohan Singh and other prominent UPA leaders. Modi may have his own personal baggage but the people appear to overlook it. Perhaps they consider it as an acceptable risk. It was interesting during the CNN-IBN poll survey that most people who were going to vote for AAP were also in favor of Modi as the prime-minister.
Of all the questionable baggage that Modi may carry, the biggest baggage is BJP. The crucial challenge for Modi and Rajnath Singh is to clean BJP from its corrupt elements. This is a monumental task and the temptation to ignore this and select the “established” and the “winners” would be great. It is not likely to happen. A clear BJP majority with Congress sitting in opposition is more likely.
History is going to repeat itself – collusion of the corrupt. This is another compelling reason to support AAP in other states and help it secure a respectable stature in the next Parliament. Some check is needed to keep BJP in balance and not re-indulge in corrupt practices with the arrogance of absolute majority.
Politics: Accountability & Transparency
Couple of days ago I turned on the television to catch the evening news. There was this interesting live broadcast from Jantar Mantar. I am not sure what channel it was on. There were representatives from the Congress, BJP and AAP along with a significantly vocal crowd. The news reporter would ask a party representative to make some comments and then would push through the crowd to get a response from seemingly a random person. He would restrain the other persons standing nearby from snatching the microphone to make comments. It appeared unruly but everyone seemed to be passionate to make their point.
BJP was making the charge that Congress and AAP are together behind the scene to form a government in Delhi. It is clear that no matter what they say publically, they would rather have a re-election in Delhi. The Congress representative was loud and more vocal. He said that the aim of the Congress to support AAP was to help them form the government so that they can be exposed to the public. He felt that the AAP has made a lot of promises that simply cannot be fulfilled and the public would soon be angry with them and dump them from power in the follow up election. It was partisan politics with heated exchange.
Then something unique happened that caught my attention. The news reporter sliced through the crowd and asked someone from the back rows as to what was his response to the charges made by the Congress? The person replied that if AAP make genuine efforts to fulfill their promises and keep their actions transparent and keep us informed, the people would not mind even if they are not able to fulfill them.
Let us pause to think on it. There is no excuse for making false promises willfully. The public in general does understand that parties tend to exaggerate on their promises. What upsets and disappoints people most is when after coming in power they show utter disregard to the people, do not make any sincere efforts to fulfill their commitments and try to deceitfully pacify them instead.
We have all heard the phrase “honesty is the best policy”. It is not just a cliché. It does work. Accountability and transparency in politics is possible and will work. Of course it requires a degree of unselfish commitment on part of the government. There is a wide spectrum here from one side of an ideal and truly unselfish approach to the other side of selfish and deceitful approach. We have to genuinely make and support efforts toward accountability and transparency. If it is not possible through systemic restraints only, then fundamental shift in the way democracy is practiced also has to be explored.
Let me give you an example on the other extreme on how politics in played India. Rahul Gandhi has become very pro-active all of a sudden. He has promised to reform the Congress party in ways previously unimaginable. He has suddenly discovered that corruption is the number one problem facing the country. He claimed with straight face and without any hesitation that his party, the erstwhile Congress, has done a lot to fight corruption in India. He then went on to explain how Congress spearheaded the passing of the RTI and “Lokpal” bills and is committed to pass a host of other anti-corruption measures.
All this while Adarsh Society report is being rejected by the Maharashtra Congress where scores of Congress minsters are indicted. This is the kind of politics as played by the Congress. In the process, Gandhi lost any credibility he had before. He would have been better off admitting that Congress and UPA did not have a good track record in fighting corruption. They have learned their lesson and are now committed to right the wrong. But this is political suicide in their perspective. They are victims of their own paradigm.
AAP is walking on thin ice. They would have to master this art. Their only ally is transparency and accountability, certainly not the Congress. They need to stick to their manifesto. Prioritize and act on issues as promised. Post all their actions on the web and announce them to the public.
The state budget, its allocation, spending, programs being supported, extent of progress being made and any midcourse corrections should be constantly communicated. No compromises should be accepted on account of the outside support by the Congress. Congress appears to have caught the tiger by the tail. They would be really afraid to let go of it. BJP would have to sit quiet and watch.
They cannot follow their usual rhetoric. These might backfire. It will be interesting to see how they can criticize the popular moves anticipated by AAP. They have no choice but to harp on inability of AAP to deliver completely on all their promises. That might backfire as well. They have no track record of fulfilling their promises in the past and the public in Delhi may very well be sympathetic with AAP if they are convinced that genuine efforts are being made by them.
At the end, one thing is emerging very clearly. Both, Congress and BJP are facing a new challenge that they do not know how to deal with. They were masters in outmaneuvering each other with their crooked moves and ulterior motives. They just appear helpless in fighting an alternative approach with accountability and transparency.
Re-engineering the Bureaucracy
History was made at the Ramlila grounds in Delhi on December 28, 2013. Over 100,000 people turned out to witness the swearing in ceremony of Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet. I was hoping that after his cabinet was sworn in, Arvind would turn around and ask the large crowd to raise their hands and swear on Bharat Mata to expose and fight corruption tooth and nail to the best of their might.
He did not exactly say that but he did do it. This is what democracy is supposed to be: participation and sharing of responsibilities between people and their elected representatives to serve the country. We are far from it, but there is a ray of light appearing in the dark tunnel.
Now that the celebrations are over, let us get back to reality. So far AAP has been fighting the elements of corruption that are external to its own make up and its own organization. The fight was in the people’s court where the plaintiffs and accused were clearly identified and issues were reasonably well defined. The struggle was uphill and AAP’s victory cannot be underestimated. However, a bigger challenge is yet to come.
Before I elaborate on the new challenge for AAP, let me make a few stipulations. These may not materialize but I will stake my opinion on them anyway. There are two possible outcomes facing the fledgling AAP government:
the support is pulled out from under them by Congress and BJP and they fall in the very near future in which case re-elections are held in the near future;
as a minority government they continue to govern Delhi. It is very clear that their strategy is to carry out their declared manifesto and not enter any alliance with either Congress or BJP.
In my opinion, in any event, AAP will end up running the government in Delhi for the full five year term. Option 2 will be more difficult to carry out for them than Option 1. If they stick with their plan and not make any major mistakes, under Option 1 they will eventually emerge as the government with clear, perhaps overwhelming majority. This will also burst the bubble about the Modi wave. It is a unique challenge for Congress and BJP; all their moves and decisions will be directly judged in the people’s court. This is something that is giving them chills right now. They just don’t know how to handle it.
If BJP is not careful and if Modi continues with his current rhetoric of attacking the Congress without providing a clear BJP manifesto for the country, the BJP may be in for a very unpleasant surprise. They may not be able to capitalize on the anti-UPA wave from this point onward since they are not the only alternative choice.
Modi has to clearly take tangible steps to pick clean candidates for the upcoming elections and outline how he is going to clean the corrupt elements from BJP. Regardless of how awkward it looks, at least Rahul Gandhi has started making desperate efforts to clean the image of Congress from this point forward. It may be too late for him but he has got the right idea.
With the stipulation that AAP will serve out the full five year term, the next major challenge they face is to re-engineer the bureaucracy in Delhi. They have no choice but to inherit them. They cannot disown them. They just cannot wash their hands by blaming them. As we all know the Babus are the mightiest next to the Almighty. They have been well versed in corrupt ways by their previous political masters.
They are certainly intellectually smart. They are used to a standard of living that cannot be sustained by the regular salary and perks. They will drag their feet and slow down any efforts to meet AAP manifesto objectives. They are well aware that the worst they will face will be a transfer to less attractive positions. All they have to do is to wait it out for five years until the current AAP government fails miserably. After that the business will be as usual.
This is a monumental management challenge for AAP and dealing with it effectively, more than all the other challenges, will eventually determine their future success. How are they going to deal with it?
Fortunately, Kejriwal is an ex-bureaucrat. He is familiar with the tricks of the trade and how to neutralize them. However, he has to do more than just neutralize them. He has to motivate and mobilize the bureaucrats to meet his objectives. To begin with the AAP programs have to be prioritized in terms of the ability of the bureaucratic system to handle them and communicated to the public. Remember, the public may show patience and understanding if genuine efforts are being made and clear progress is visible.
They would not tolerate inaction, alternative agenda or failure. All of Saam, Daam, Dand and Bhed will have to be utilized with the existing bureaucracy to tackle this challenge. Clearly, those who are entrenched in corruption have to be transferred out. Many of them may also work as spies for the opposition parties to prematurely reveal internal strategies and tactical moves required to implement new programs.
The sincere, honest and particularly the young in the administrative cadre have to be quickly spotted and brought forward through promotions to be assigned to key programs. Outside experts with clear track record of accomplishment in public or private sectors will have to be brought in as advisors to overlook day to day implementation of programs and track progress. The marginal and the sidelined bureaucrats have to be retrained and re-energized under the supervision of the cabinet members and the outside experts.
All of this has to begin rather quickly. It will be a fatal mistake to push the manifesto programs through the archaic pipeline of the current bureaucratic setup. Selective outsourcing is another choice to accomplish objectives. It is a double edged sword though. For the corrupt, it is an easy way to squander public funds. However, outsourcing has been very successfully used in the private sector to save time and cost and gain productivity.
Bureaucracy is part of the democracy and in many ways it reflects the character of its political superiors. In private enterprises it has been re-engineered successfully in many instances. Even in democratic governments in the west bureaucratic systems and their productivity have been re-engineered to a significant degree. The challenge for Delhi is unique. There are all indications that Kejriwal and his cabinet along with some top AAP leaders have anticipated this challenge and devised their approach to tackle it.
Scalability of AAP
Before we consider the scalability of AAP, let us first try to understand what is AAP? Is it a movement or is it a party? It was not that long ago when the experts called it a movement not a party. Now, it appears everyone concedes that AAP is a party as well. Normally, movements are born out of some pressing necessities to bring about a change in status quo.
There are seldom well developed plans after the primary movement objectives are achieved and therefore most movements, however large and successful, are short lived. AAP is also born out from anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare.
There is a major difference here. The Anna Hazare movement, like others in the past, slowly fizzled out. However, out of the ashes AAP was born to continue the cause. They were challenged by the established parties to work within the democratic system to enact their reforms. Left with no other choice, the energy of the movement was harnessed by Arvind Kejriwal to form a party.
This is where the major difference exists between other established parties and AAP - rest of them are just political parties while AAP is a movement and a party both.
In the normal paradigm, any political party is started by a handful of people. They declare their ideology, a platform and a set of goals and objectives. They then acquire and deploy considerable amount of financial resources to develop regional and national organizations.
These organizations grow by inducting people through (partly or completely) ideological identifications, alliances, cast, religion, language and a host of other factors. The party organization and support grows slowly through a lot of hard work by thousands of people over a long period of time. This is why the axiom evolved that it takes a lot of money, people, hard work and time to organize and mobilize a successful party that can win elections.
The AAP on the other hand, as I said before, is a movement and a party both. Movements may be ignited by one individual or a handful of people, but their growth comes from the grass roots – the people. The growth of a movement is from bottom up while that of a party is from top down.
This is why movements do not require large sums of money, organizations and time to grow. Once ignited, they can grow like a wild fire. The energy comes from the pent-up desire and need of the masses to participate in the process of cleaning up the filth from the Indian political landscape. The real challenge here is to harness this energy into a structured approach through a dedicated organization that shapes into a political party.
As long as the party stays dedicated to the cause of the people and does not betray their trust, there is a chain reaction between the energy of the masses and the organization of the party that channels this energy and feeds it back to the people. This is a high wire act but it can be done. The AAP is riding this tsunami right now. They are treading on thin ice but they have an opportunity to cross the lake without going around it. They have to maintain the movement of the masses and create an organization to faithfully support it simultaneously.
This is hard to understand from the traditional paradigm of the other parties. Not long ago, they were mocking the AAP as a rag tag organization with no financial resources who would not even win a single seat in Delhi. They certainly received a shock treatment. Now, Congress is mocking them again for their ludicrous ambition to contest in national elections. BJP is giving them advice to stay within Delhi and learn how to run a government and leave the national election to the big boys. They have not learned their lessons well. The worst thing they can do is to take AAP lightly again.
There is a peaceful revolution taking place in Indian democracy right now. It is transitioning from state power to people power. It is breaking the traditional and artificial vote bank barriers. There is no need to divide Indians by their caste, religion or background. There is no need to classify people as SC, OBC, Tribal, Minority etc. A person who is un-empowered is one who cannot provide proper food, clothing, shelter, education, health care and security to himself and his family.
It is the responsibility of the state (country) to help him help himself to climb out of this disability and become a productive citizen of the country. All the other identifications are simply artificial and counterproductive. They divide us instead of uniting us as Indians. The poor and minorities are beginning to understand it that they are being exploited by opportunistic politicians. It is no surprise to see that the AAP swept most of the votes from the poor and the neglected who were traditional vote banks for SP and BSP.
- There are a multitude of challenges facing the Aam Adami Party right now. The foremost among them are:
- Stay connected with the mass movement against the massive corruption in Congress and BJP.
- Make a genuine attempt to meet the promises made during the Delhi election campaign.
- Pursue the declared manifesto sincerely and vigorously. Prioritize and announce action plans to meet them.
- While accomplishing items 1 and 2 above, maintain fiscal responsibility in governance. Delay programs if necessary but find alternative sources of revenue or savings in spending to meet budget within reasonable guidelines.
- Do not enter any compromise alliance with either Congress or BJP.
- Make all decisions, spending, accomplishments and failures public through internet or other media.
- As stated before, maintain accountability and transparency of the government as top priority.
- Choose carefully places where to contest elections at state and national levels. Particularly target places where Congress and BJP are struggling because of widespread corruption or poor execution. Participate in constituencies where reasonable organizational structure is in place and solid candidates with squeaky clean records are available to field.
The task is formidable but the opportunities are compelling. It is up to AAP to capitalize on them.
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