The AAP ki
dilemma !( Or is it the Country’s?)
I wonder if Arvind Kejriwal and his friends had ever
imagined the political uncertainty they were to unleash when they did not get
their 47 seats so vehemently claimed by AK in his interviews to various
channels in the Capital and the NCR regions. That they got 28 has further
confounded their political sagacity which I rate very highly even now. It has
at the same time given them a huge opportunity to clean up the ‘Aegean stables’
so to say, of our country’s none too attractive political journey. They must
now force the population of Delhi ( to call it New Delhi would be missing the
point) to revisit the history of their political territory and thru this the
political territory of the country of at least the last 65 years if not more.
Perhaps the earlier period can be left best to the renowned historians and
lesser mortals to juggle with.
For what Kejriwal has done is to open up the innards of each
political outfit in the country and laid them bare before the embarassed public
eyes. That they ( the people ) should be embarassed more, is a different matter
and at the same time a very pivotal matter. I would insist that the Indian
masses should look deep inside their own ‘zameer’ ( for want of a better english
word) and come to their own conclusions as to why during their earlier
independent existence they allowed their political thoughts as represented by
the ‘established’ political parties to go astray and get deeply ensnared in the
corrupt quicksand of any new and developing nation. This probability was very
well known to the people or the members of the most effective and honoured
party of the post independence era, the Congress Party, formed out of the blood
sweat and toils and tears of the freedom movement of the nation. I would also
quickly add the personas of the other ‘left of the centre’ political parties like the Socialist Party, the CPI, the
Forward bloc etc. This latter group I would leave out for the present for the
purposes of getting to the bottom of what I wish t o say. So, back to the
wonderful ‘zameer ‘ of the people of this country which the AAP has forcibly
opened up once more.
For well over a quarter of a century, the Congress Party
headed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi and her descendants decided what was best for the
country and its people. Which sector to be propelled, which financial laws to
be pushed thru, which social legislation to be strengthened was her whim and
fancy. There was hardly any democratic push for any major sinew of the nation
from the party ; what mattered was that the Party boss was kept in good humour
and that would ensure that the ‘business as usual’ ethos would continue, and
that all is well with the Indian democracy. Slowly, an established but thinly
veiled corrupt system of governance got established. So, it did not matter if
officials received expensive gifts and junkets and favours from the emerging
dynamic business class for files to be moved effectively. It did not matter at
all very soon that these powerful centres of change ( read the govt. official,
the corporate executive et all ) received expensive gifts during Diwali,
Christmas and other such important revered festival days. Gifts and favours which
in their wildest dreams they would not have dared to purchase from their
salaries or known sources of income. Overnight, many ‘successful’ executives
became ‘very well to do’ and sometimes ‘originally rich’ classes of officials
and individuals who would naturally scale the heights of officialdom at double
speed and all would again be ‘business as usual’. Nobody would point a finger
at them or their sudden upwardly mobile stance and ambience. Till something
like the Coal block Scandal or the 2 G Scam or the CWG scam would break loose
and the dull sensibilities of the Indian masses would be shaken, in fact
brutally woken up to start groping for a way out. Not that Arvind Kejriwal has provided any blue print for sorting these
out and getting us on a righteous path immediately enough.
Now that the AAM Party has taken the political challenge by
its horns, it is also very heartening to note that they have started by
steadfastly sticking to the honest, simple, and straightforward living
standards for themselves, C.M.s and Ministers and of course the M.L.A.s elected
right from the word go ! No flapping security of gun toting men to signal that
they are bringing in tow a ‘Minister’ or a ‘bada Aadmi’ !! No palatial
bungalows, and unnecessary fan fare. These are some basics on which they will
build ( at least I hope so ) These are the basics on which every other ‘established’
party will flounder and will have to perforce do a re-think. They will
ultimately have to do a rethink on the political thought with which they wish
to engage the masses.
Aur bhi bahut gham hain duniya mein, abhi yaaron !!
