AAP is not finished
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is not finished. Whether Kejriwal was right
in abandoning governance in Delhi after only 49 days is debatable. Kejriwal
admitted that it was an error of judgement on his part. But the voters did not
spare him for what they called a blunder on his part. Kejriwal was next taken
into custody in a defamation case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nitin
Gadkari. Kejriwal preferred detention to furnishing a bail bond and the cadres
reverted to protest mode. This was yet another case of honest leader being
jailed and corrupt continuing to escape punishment.
The AAP rose to popularity owing to its
anti-corruption crusade. But its failure to discharge responsibility became its
weak point. However, AAP fought a valiant battle in the general election,
capturing four seats — all in Punjab — for a two per cent share of the national
vote. In Varanasi, Kejriwal gave a tough fight to none other than Narendra
Modi. Although Kejriwal lost to Modi he managed to poll over two lakh votes
against a prospective Prime Minister. That is a real achievement. Also Kejriwal
managed to win the Muslim support. Muslims preferred Kejriwal to the local don
Mukhtar Ansari. This itself indicates at once the community’s yearning for
clean and secular politics and its strong distrust of Modi.
What AAP will now have to do is first strengthen its
foundation and acquire political competence in Delhi. Another thing is within
the party itself there should be democratic functioning. It seems that Kejriwal
is acting too dictatorial and doesn’t entertain the views of the members of his
party. This behavior of Kejriwal had led to several of AAP’s founding members
resigning from the party. The party which the Aam aadmi perceived as different
turned out to be party with differences. It’s high time for AAP to rework its
strategies and prioritize goals.
The AAP is still in its budding stage to shower the
yet yielded fruits to the people of India. It had taken BJP around 47 years
struggle to get a chance to pursue their ideology and agenda besides its 1997
win. Hopefully, we believe that this defeat could be an eye opener to Kejriwal,
the man of iron heart, to ponder over the mistakes and the faults done by his
party to come up to the expectations of the people. Moreover, it should start
growing up as a party in the opposition without leaving its sole and ulterior
agenda of anti-corruption nature so as to win the hearts and minds of the
people.
Politics of principles played by Kejriwal did fetch
him reward from Punjabis who appreciated his courageous tussle against corrupt
political system. This itself can be called a beginning of new era in politics
where AAP has dared to change the rules of game.
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