Where the AAP shall fail

There are several political commentators who are earning their daily bread nowadays by singing either paeans of praise or by throwing brickbats at the Aam Admi Party. There is a fervor in a large section of India that reminds one of the revolutions orchestrated by Bhagat Singh & Co, Mahatma Gandhi, the heady Babri Masjid days, etc. Never has a muffler and a cough struck more terror in the hearts of politicians than it has now.

I will allow the marketers to comment and revel in how Kejriwal has gotten his marketing strategy cent per cent right. First, he has captured the blue ocean plank of anti corruption- a plank that no other party in India can lay claim on. Second, by using brand symbols such as the jhadoo and the common man topi, if by nothing else but sheer symbolism, Kejriwal has come to match Gandhi in his use of the charkha and the loincloth as symbols of his revolution. For that, I must congratulate the AAP and its multiple media advisors.

However, as the movement transitions into government, it quickly disintegrates into rot and decay as has every other revolution in this country. Even the Congress was once a revolution to overthrow the British (a rather moderate mediocre revolution but for Gandhi; for a long period, Congress’ role and vision was to simply co-exist with the Britishers)… and look where it is today. The rot in Congress can be aptly summed up in one unfortunate brand symbol. Robert Vadra’s greased palm.

But again, this has been spoken of too; so I will move on to talking about something that I have come to notice about the nature of revolutionaries. Revolutionaries (in India at least) are men of the people. Populists. Which means that they will, put people or the idea of benefitting the people or better put- the public image of benefitting people, before the long term vision of welfare of a nation. 

Sample Bhagat Singh. Great revolutionary, incredibly sharp and undoubtedly a Kejriwal of the pre-independence era, Bhagat Singh’s dream was to set up a socialist party if & when he and his band of revolutionaries were to wrest control from the British government. Sample Gandhi or Nehru too then, who having wrested control from the Britishers, chose socialism over capitalism, thus condemning three fourths of this country to poverty, for decades. A scenario which changed only when an economic crisis forced the government’s hand in 1991.

The point is- every political party in India has realized that populism is a sure-fire way to win votes. And even neo revolutionary parties like the AAP will find it hard not to lean towards populism. And sample their first moves in power- subsidizing electricity bills, water bills, getting policemen suspended… everything as populist as Arvind’s aam admi topi. 

A revolution enchants people and when it ends, to continue that charm and enchantment, it requires the crutch of populism. Which the AAP is slowly turning towards. 

Let’s hope the clutch of corporate honchos joining the party can change Arvind’s mind. Otherwise the AAP will turn out to be another Congress in ten years.

A government’s only real job is to build roads; by roads, I mean power lines, water canals, highways and other associated infrastructure. And then sit back and let people build their own lives. Not give people a massive dole to sit at home and do nothing as the MNREGA does. 

So even though Mr. Kejriwal might be pure in his intentions, the only way his revolution can retain its lustre is for the AAP to stop being for the people. It needs to be for the nation.