The
Aam Admi party is all set for their parliamentary elections debut slated to be
held in a few months from now after being catapulted from street agitations
straight to the Delhi cabinet. The unexpected results in Delhi have forced the
conventional parties back to brainstorming sessions. The results have left most
political pundits dumbfounded. The reason that most pundits failed to or rather
chose not to consider is simple. AAP is intrinsically different from all other
conventional political parties (Barring of course the Loksatta) with the party
having being founded on the planks anti corruption and transparency.
With radical, unconventional, innovative and inclusive methods of street
campaigning in the age of extravagant “Million bucks Flamboyant Rallies” AAP is
seeming to strike the right chord among the masses by being austere and people
friendly. From rigorous door to door campaigns to “Jharu chalao yatras” to
“Call Delhi campaign” have provided the party the necessary people connect and
base. In times of unbridled rampant
corruption, crony capitalism, politico-mafia nexus, stashed Black money,
embezzlement and siphoning off of welfare funds, arrogance of the political
class, police terrorism, muscle power, inefficient system, vote bankism, riots,
communal politics AAP has maintained a position of a political maverick. This has earned them a
core following as this rookie party offers solutions to end the dirty and
unholy practices in politics.
The people of this country have off late realized that the Corruption is
responsible for most of the ills that plagues the country. Corruption has
implications on every class of the society and practically in every field. The
citizens of this country grapple with it each passing day. Thus there is an
urgent need for a strong anti corruption ombudsman. The citizen of this country
is disenchanted with the present situation of despair and is highly cynical of
the incumbent political class. As AAP
was born out of the Lokpal movement (Which pitched for a strong anti corruption
ombudsman) and vows to bring about a change, the party has its appeal among all
the classes of society in the urban areas. The mood among the urban voter is
restive. They are relentlessly in search of scrupulous politicians to take the
center stage in the politics. With having vowed not to give tickets to people
with criminal background and offering people a more transparent and democratic
candidate selection process within the party, AAP is an obvious choice.
The issue of lack basic
amenities affecting the people directly or indirectly is one of the main
reasons behind the party’s grass root connect with the masses in Delhi. The
party has tried to forge the aspirations of the middle class and the
imaginations of the working class into a single mould in their agenda. The idea
of direct and participatory democracy is another great aspect of their
ideology. This idea proposes to bring the participation of people in governance
and development rather than them being mere spectators of their fate getting decided
by a coterie of handful of people. In a way this idea may also help to bring
more accountability in the system towards the people and bring in another set
of checks and balances. So such ideologies helps AAP to further bolster their
people connect. The party’s emphasis on issue and development based politics
will go a long way in forging unity in a country where identity, religion,
caste and language based politics still pervades the popular political culture.
This gives the party an edge over the conventional political parties. Moreover
AAP has over one year since its inception has always maintained a liberal and
humanitarian stand on various issues without worrying about the conservative
opinion (As India is largely a conservative society so conservative votes forms
a large vote bank). This liberal stand has earned them popularity among the
liberal, intellectual and informed classes.
Notwithstanding all the points stated above, to have a popular appeal in
the rural hinterland of the country will be a herculean task for the rookie
party. The urban voter is well informed, has exposure to the media and is not
much affected by caste and creed biases. The rural turf is plagued by muscle
power, caste and creed bias, widespread destitution, illiteracy, lack of
education and awareness. Also most of the rural India has no access to the
media. So there may be many places in rural India where the masses are unaware
of such a party. Moreover various issues of corruption may seem irrelevant to
them due to lack of any awareness and education. So to bring about a popular
sentiment in favor of AAP would require prolonged and relentless awareness
campaigns for a few years.
Adding to this are other problems
in context of rural India. Often political vendetta takes a violent turn in
areas dominated by muscle power. Fielding candidates against powerful
politicians of that area invites antagonism from them. This sometimes results
in life threatening situations for the candidates. In such a situation to find
candidates who would dare to stand against those “Dabang Politicians” would
also be an uphill task. Also in such areas the voters who vote against the
powerful politicians live in a constant fear of being persecuted. So efforts
will also have to be made to counter such practices in rural areas.
Nevertheless the foray of “Aam Admi” into the political mainstream
augurs well for our democracy. And with the dogged determination of its
National convener, AAP in the years to come may being about a paradigm shift in
the political roadmap of this country. Above all the AAP endeavor may put the
“Mango Man” back into the political firmament of this great Nation.
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