Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Only AAP can save the country' that was published in Newsband

Only AAP can save the country

It is good to see the bitter internal battle coming to an end within Aam Aadmi Party. The party is now focusing on the governance of Delhi. The party has also revealed its ambition to contest elections in other States.

A significant part of its internal battle may have been a clash of egos and personalities. While Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan wanted to use AAP to make name for themselves, Kejriwal, on the other hand, wanted to focus his energies on ridding Delhi of corruption and ensuring better delivery of services to its citizenry. The future of the AAP now rests on Kejriwal’s performance as Chief Minister of Delhi.

It is true that a farmer committing suicide at a rally organised by it in New Delhi on April 22 is an unfortunate thing to happen. But enough has been reported in the media about how things turned worse for AAP. The problem in India today is, media controls the political discourse and there by governance too. Just see how much of discussions and debates are going on over the farmer suicide. One can’t blame AAP only for this happening. There are many others to be blamed.

Indeed, the future of AAP will depend on the governance in Delhi. The lessons learnt could then be applied all over the country. There is nothing wrong if AAP cashes the current popularity to go nationwide. Every political party or politician has to be opportunistic to a certain extent. Wouldn't it be good for India if AAP brought a new and effective model to apply to the country? Isn’t that best for the people of India? AAP is experimenting today and their method is showing signs of succeeding.  

Kejriwal is absolutely right in wanting to focus his efforts in ridding Delhi of corruption and proving better services to the citizens. This is pragmatism. If he is successful in doing what he is intending to do, then no political party, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, can stop their going places.

Like charity, popularity and governance begin at home. Kejriwal should focus first on local issues and at the appropriate time go outside the home. First he should go across the road by looking to LEFT and RIGHT and then he could cross the road ignoring LEFT and RIGHT. As far as others are concerned, they should give AK time to build his credibility by demonstrating results.

The AAP's position at the all-India level today is not bad. There are vast numbers of people in the rest of the country (outside Delhi) who are disgusted with dynasty politics. They are also frustrated with the conventional politics of patronage & hierarchy based on black money-funded elections. They are no longer attracted by the politics of caste leaders. Our democracy has now reached a stage when a political movement like that of the AAP, which is transparently funded, can impart a radical turn to the democratisation process. For that to happen the AAP should "formulate a position on several matters of national import." If the AAP, as a political movement, does not seize this historic opportunity, then all indicators are that we will be heading towards a "nationalist dictatorship."