As Election Day draws ever closer, I am forced to take stock of the political events of the last few months and come to some hard conclusions. I was a strong supporter of AAP but the following points are now coming in the way of my earlier less critical position - 1) In retrospect, I feel they should not have formed the Government of Delhi. If the BJP had refused to do so on the grounds of not having a mandate, they should also have done so. Had there been a repoll, they would have come in with a majority and there would have been less khit-pit all around. By accepting the challenge they fell into the well-oiled trap laid by the Congress and the BJP. 2) Having decided to form the government, their eighteen point agenda was admirable and concrete, but they seemed to have decided in advance that they would not be staying too long. Hence the need to maximise the tamasha element in the shortest possible time. There was unnecessary haste in bring to the fore difficult, structural issues (eg accountability of the police, jan lokpal bill). They seemed almost too eager to enter into street-fighting mode rather than quietly pressing forward with other less sensitive issues - especially since they lacked a majority. 3) Underlying it all I sense a premeditated plan to contest the Lok Sabha elections. This, it seems to me, is a monumental, strategic blunder. As a new party, I think they should have focused on winning a few assemblies ( eg Delhi, Haryana), and building on demonstrated success, brick by brick and then aimed at the next Lok Sabha elections, if at all. The incredible speed with which they have had to expand their membership, collect funds and find nominees for seats has forced them to compromise on basic principles and tolerate all kind of aberrations. The organisational culture they espoused (the core of their differentiation from their opponents) is being eroded right, left and centre. Today they scarcely look different from their opponents. 4) Their Lok Sabha campaign practices also seem to be flying the in face of the very things that made them different and attractive. Instead of building on local leadership talent, they have resorted to parachuting-in outsiders; instead of focusing on issues, they are pitting individuals against individuals of the opposition; instead of focusing on corruption, crony-capitalism and communalism at the local level, they are focusing on the national symbols of these - ie RaGa and NaMo and are trying to turn the election into a National Re-independence Movement. I am doubtful that the Indian voter will make the leap so easily. I am afraid they may have lost the plot. But I am still a supporter of what I fondly imagine was the original plot! NOTA tenable position I fear...
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 03:49:05 +0000
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