Does Yogendra Yadav need to do a Sculley on Kejriwal!

Kejriwal's contribution to AAP cannot be ignored. Even though he relied on a team of selfless workers, the fact was that his deft leadership and courage. The Janlokpal movement that catapulted him and Anna Hazare into the national spotlight. Despite Anna Hazare being the symbolic head of the movement, he managed to get recognized as the master strategist behind the man.

Ideological differences led him to split with the original IAC team and go the politics way. Here, he brilliantly managed to amass a huge following in the national capital with a deft use of rhetoric and his anti establishment image.  With the congress government at the center falling into one trap after the other, the timing was perfect for AAP to launch into the Delhi elections. Shrewd mathematics, combined with a high degree of anti incumbency factors, led the AAP to a stupendous show that stole the BJP's thunder of sweeping all four states. And that is where the downfall started.

Even before a final tally was released, I heard Kumar Vishwas talking of Amethi and someone else branding Modi as the next target. The ruckus that followed saw AAP's biggest support base dwindling away, the BJP ending up as the biggest gainer. The lok sabha elections gave BJP a thumping majority, and Modi, riding on the plank of development came to the fore, decimating the "giant killers" of AAP, and all other parties in India.

Now the AAP rhetoric of anti corruption will not work, considering the new government has got down to task with Modi instructing officers/ ministers to work in a very corporate manner with fixed accountability and deliverable targets. However, Kejriwal seems to still be in a world of his own. Despite party founders leaving citing a lack of inner democracy, his only solution is that he shall personally oversee volunteers. For a party that has plans of going national, the chief hopes to personally oversee volunteers! The fact that in most of the seats where APP candidates fought, the NOTA option has got more votes than AAP proves that people do not see AAP as an alternative at all. Either they are seen to be like any other party, or they are perceived to be rabble rousers who cannot work. AAP lost the plot totally because one man wanted to be the Prime Minister.

In 1985, Apple had launched the Mac Office, that had bombed in the market. In Sculley's (then Apple CEO) words, the product was ridiculed as a toy, a victim of too much ambition for the relatively small amount of computing power available.(Link) However, Steve Jobs stayed adamant despite knowing nothing about running a company and despite the fact that Apple was constantly failing with new products. Sculley, with the board fired him. The time that Steve spent outside gave him a better perspective as also allowed the company to create a strong base on which, he could apply his vision when he returned and make Apple a masterpiece in the world.

That is the same problem with AAP and Arvind Kejriwal today, AAP is his baby, and he is not able to look beyond his vision (ambition). For him, what he thinks of AAP is what it should be, never mind the downward spiral. The devoted volunteers find themselves in a fix here. As they are done defending Kejriwal's actions, he takes a u-turn that the entire volunteer base now has to defend. AAP is a hope in the Indian political scenario. It is the party that stormed the drawing rooms of people who were hithertho oblivious to their political surrounding. We have to stop the relapse of these people into the unconcerned category, and for that, the country needs AAP. Maybe not to govern, but to keep the governing class on its toes. 

Someone from the AAP leadership must take this initiative, and in my opinion it is Yogendra Yadav. He understands politics, has a clean record and is widely respected. He should steer the AAP on to a trajectory where it becomes a credible political voice, devoid of cynicism, and contributing to the country's positive growth. 

Chit b meri, pat b meri, sikka mere b”AAP” ka

I pride myself on being politically aware and active in a nation where it is still considered a dirty dungeon where no one wants to tread. Hence, I was genuinely happy, when the masses in Delhi turned out to vote for the Assembly elections. Notwithstanding the fact that most voters did not know who they were voting for except that it was an AAP candidate. It was a red flag, but I ignored it, thinking it to be the start and that, it may hold the key to change.

I had genuinely not hoped that AAP would get more than 10 seats- that I guessed were enough to keep the ruling (sic) BJP and the other opposition (Congress) on its toes, as AAP would make a fantastic opposition. The results proved me wrong and horribly so- horrible because I know what a fractured mandate can do- (At the national level) we have all seen it in ‘96-’99 and even now, when vested interests decide major policies. The congress promptly tried to corner AAP in a difficult spot, and AAP fell for it- after a high voltage drama.

I am going to list out in numbers my problems with the entire thing for ease of discussion. AAP members, as I have observed, do not answer questions directed at them, but try to take it on a whole lot “holier than thou” level.

1. AAP asked Congress and BJP for BLIND support on 18 points: Anyone who is remotely familiar with legislative process knows that any law comes into force after a lot of debate, our constitution also provides for the same - LS>RS> back to LS for verifying changes and vice versa. Sure, it does take time, but it also ensures that no one is above a collectively empowered parliament. Or else, the Gandhis would have by now declared India a Gandhian sovereign territory piggybacking on their sycophants. By asking for blind support on legislations/ decisions, many of whom were not even presented, AAP was trying to undermine a constitutional consultative process. What if a BJP legislator had a point to be included/ removed from the AAP version of Janlokpal/ Mohalla samitis?

2. Lies and more lies: Since the very start, we have been witnessing a slew of lies from AAP’s stable. I will not even talk about not joining politics, not taking congress support, not in Lok Sabha fray etc. But it gets embarrassing when Kejriwal brings out a letter from the Ugandan embassy and it is found to be a dated internal memo. Our position in the world suffers due to such antics.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/mea-calls-bluff-support-letter-cm-waved-is-7-months-old-internal-ugandan-note/

3. VIP culture: Yes we are all sick of it, but Mr Kejriwal- the 4000 policemen deployed for your dharna today were part of someone’s security. You might well say that you didn’t ask for it, but the fact is if something went wrong, you would have come out clean saying that Delhi police is not under my control.

As for a house and security, enough has been said already. Im sure great leaders like Lal Bahadur Shashtri and Atal Behari Vajpayee did live in official bungalows, did use official cars, but never did we associate them with extravagance. On the other hand, I know many MP’s who use the MP shuttle (a Maruti Versa van that seats 6 MPs at one time) in the mornings to reach the parliament, and never did they publicise their austerity.

More important than the above, as we can see in the video attached here, the AAP workers are threatening the police saying- “Ap MLA ko marenge?” Surely something is amiss- because in the hurry of fielding 800 candidates, you are enrolling everyone into the party. Is there a common thread- NO?

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/aap-leaders-shout-at-cops-allege-supporters-are-being-detained-beaten-up/306071

4. Statesmanship: The moment AAP’s government was sworn in, they ceased to be a movement and joined the executive. You may surely be angry at the way the system runs, but that is no excuse for saying “Main in policewalo ko dekh lunga?” (AK said this in the interview with Rajdeep Sardesai) The Delhi Police may have its share of issues, but in my opinion, it is still one of the better managed forces. Disagree- try living in Gurgaon/ Ghaziabad, and you will know what I am talking about.

AK demanded suspensions/ transfers of 5 top police officers on account of non performance- meaning they weren’t registering cases on the basis of audio clips. Try taking one such case to a court and see how it falls. The result: The two honest officers that AK wanted to be posted to the ACB went to the governor and refused the appointment. Demoralizing your honest officers is not going to help.

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/cm-scales-down-demand-officers-refuse-to-join-acb/

5. Saving your ministers even when they are wrong: I understand the point about your ministers being accessible to the people, but in these cases, they were clearly on the wrong- the law does not  permit the police to barge into anyone’s house, when there are women present. The day you authorise such actions on oral orders, you become another SP in a rural town, where the local minister can dictate the police actions.

Instead of taking actions against your ministers- you go on a televised drama using the rape case of a Danish girl, and your minister twice- against the law -spurts out the names of victims.

6. The last- biting more than you can chew- Even before any concrete work on Delhi has been delivered, the entire brass is busy making claims/ plans about the national election. It will be difficult to get 800 clean and capable candidates in a short period of time, especially when the party has no central ideology to bind people together. So, instead of expanding like Mallya did, be prudent and evolve a central ideology. Anti corruption can not be an ideology, there are many examples of partly corrupt nations that are doing pretty well in the world, for themselves and for their people. Get a backbone, and stick to it.

AAP has become a consortium of smug people, and a borrowed quote summarises it - “Subah ka corrupt agar shaam ko AAP me aa jaye to usey corrupt nahi kehte” My advice would be to take your mandate seriously before the people who voted you in, throw you into oblivion.