WEEKEND SPECIAL Referring to Mahatma Gandhi's austerity, Sarojini Naidu, freedom fighter and a close associate of Mahatma had once famously said "it costs a lot to keep him poor." There is no doubt that Mahatma Gandhi personified simplicity and humility in public life. He is its gold standard. But, some of his austerity measures like drinking goat's milk, walking long distances etc were not really too austere or simple.
The newly elected chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal considers Mahatma his inspiration and guide. He won the election by promising a simple and accountable government. In his eagerness to distinguish his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from other well established 'arrogant' political parties, Kejriwal is encouraging a competitive austerity.
He came to Ram Leela Maidan in Old Delhi to take oath as chief minister by a Metro. Some alleged that a separate Metro was arranged for him. According to some reports, his oath taking ceremony also cost the government more than Rs 80 Lakh. If he had taken oath at Raj Niwas, it would have cost the government less than Rs 5 lakh.
In his manifesto and public speeches Kejriwal promised that his ministers would either use public transport or use their own vehicles to travel in the city. He also ridiculed the elected rulers who live in palatial public bungalows instead of living in small houses. He promised the voters that he would function from a small house like a commoner.
Perhaps, he was not aware of the trappings of power. Perhaps, Kejriwal was under the impression that the good governance is all about what you wear, how you live, what you drive, what you eat etc.
It seems he is slowly realizing that good governance is much more than tokenism after a week in office.
He has now decided not use a 5 bed room house in Lutyen's Delhi and an adjacent 5 bed room house as his office after it attracted a lot of criticism from the media and his supporters. His decision to allow his ministers to use Toyota Innova vehicles has also become big news.
Kejriwal now wants to move to a smaller house. He might even get one soon. But, what is the guarantee that it will also not attract criticism? If it happens, will he move to even much smaller house? How long can he keep on doing it in the name of austerity? Does not the chief minister of Delhi have any other important job? Can he waste his valuable time on house, vehicle etc at the cost of governance? Can Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi function from a night shelter or a Porta cabin or a slum?
Certainly not. He can't and he should not. As his Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Omar Abdullah tweets "No one will grudge Kejriwal a 5 bedroom home what they will grudge is poor delivery of election promises so just let him move in and govern."
Kejriwal should realize that competitive austerity is a mere tokenism and he is not the first to claim that he will live like commoners. In the 66 years history independent India, there have been hundreds of leaders who tried to live like a commoner at one point or another. Almost all of them failed after the much more important and complex task of running the government became their top priority.
They also realized the futility of such tokenisms. The voters will finally judge a leader by how he/she delivers on poll promises and how he/she governs the state. Even if that leader leads a very austere life and fails as a ruler, the people won't give him/her another chance. They want the rulers to provide good administration and uplift the downtrodden.
In 2009, the UPA-2 launched an austerity drive. Its ministers were asked to travel by economy class. It soon became a national joke and the cartoonists had a field day poking fun at the ministers. Shashi Tharoor, then a minister of state External Affairs tweeted that he too was travelling by cattle class (referring to economy class). It led to a huge uproar and the media rightly told the government to focus on bigger issues concerning the nation, instead of wasting time and energy on mere tokenism.
There will be no end to competitive austerity. If Kejriwal wears a leather shoe, somebody might ask him to wear a rubber shoe. If he goes to a private doctor, people might ask him to go to a government hospital and wait in queue. If he flies, people might ask him to travel by a train. If he wears branded clothes, somebody might ask him to buy clothes from roadside market on Janpath. Talking about austerity is like riding a tiger. If you don't know how to dismount without being eaten by the same tiger, you will be forced to ride the same tiger forever.
Kejriwal must understand one more important thing. Just because, majority people are poor, the government does not need to be poor. The primary job of the government in a democracy is to uplift the poor, not to reduce its level to that of the poor people. It makes no sense and it will lead to anarchy and bankruptcy.
Hope, Kejriwal won't waste his precious time on house and vehicle. He has a huge mission to accomplish. Voters want him to deliver on the poll promises concerning them, not the issues concerning Kejriwal's personal life.
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