The media, to my dismay, continues to ignore the Aam Aadmi Party’s historic role in the 2014 general elections when they talk about the different scenarios following the official results on May 16th. My contention is that even if the media thinks AAP is out of the process of forming the government in New Delhi, it should at least highlight the fact that the newly born party has re-written rules of the political game in India by making the voter aware of the most crucial element of a democracy – accountability.
Day in and day out, we hear about the so called “Modi wave” but no one talks about the benign wave of accountability and transparency that AAP has triggered. There is a whole new atmosphere in this election which has never been seen before. The two leading parties – Congress and BJP – were quick in learning from the AAP victory in Delhi and changed their manifestos to incorporate Arvind Kejriwal’s ideas. While, on the daily talk shows some politicians even labeled Kejriwal as a communist, just as the Republicans labeled US President Barack Obama when he focused his campaign on the sufferings of the Aam American.
If we go deeper, the newly born party has singlehandedly changed the way Congress and BJP used to select candidates, the way they campaigned and also the issues they included in their manifestos. Both parties are addressing no one but the common man at their campaign rallies.
To think about it, Congress would never have fielded Captain Amarinder Singh against Arun Jaitley in Amritsar if it was not for AAP. It was AAP that prompted BJP to field Smriti Irani against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, and Modi would never have campaigned there for her. AAP has brought a sea change in Indian politics, shaking up the cozy traditional strongholds of both Congress and BJP. If Jaitley loses, or Gadkari loses, or Kapil Sibal loses, or Manish Tiwari did not contest, or Milind Deora loses – it is due to AAP. And then, whatever the electronic media may say, AAP will also make a difference in another 30 to 40 constituencies across the country, though it is difficult to say who will hurt more, Congress or BJP.
For that matter, to me, the Supreme Court’s recent historic decision to allow CBI to investigate corruption charges against officers at joint secretary level and above without prior permission of the Centre is also a direct result of the anti-corruption and accountability drive of AAP. The court has held as invalid and unconstitutional the provision in the law requiring government’s approval to probe senior bureaucrats on corruption charges, saying all government officials have to be treated equally and face the same process of inquiry in graft cases.
Although the party ruled New Delhi for just 49 days, its swift actions to mitigate the financial woes of the common Delhiite and its anti-corruption outcries are still resonating in the power corridors of the Indian capital. Even Lieutenant General Najeeb Jung has become active in enforcing some of the rules and laws that favour the downtrodden. Recently he dismissed six engineers who failed to keep the water supply running for the homeless shelters. He has been directing surprise crackdowns on different departments, including food and supplies, education, transport, excise, health, trade and taxes, to check on malpractices.
Also, Kejriwal’s predictions about how the government plans to hike the prices of water and electricity for the middle class residents of the capital are coming true every day. Newspapers are running front page stories on the possibilities, but without saying that Kejriwal said so. The media is reporting these items as and when they happen but no credit is being given where its due. Instead, the media keeps harping that since Kejriwal resigned after 49 days, it has hurt his image and he has no chance in the general elections. Even senior journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai say his 49 day government proved he is better in campaigning against the government rather than running the government. Every politician seems to be in a race to take the credit by claiming that he or she has been talking about the plight of the common man even before the AAP was formed. I, for one, believe that Kejriwal took a very practical and shrewd decision by resigning as Delhi’s Chief Minister. He always said he is honest but never claimed that he is not a politician. I believe his move to resign on the corruption issue to move his campaign to the national level before Congress and BJP could pull the rug from underneath his government was a very practical decision.
He did not ditch his voters but sent a clear signal to them that he could have done much more for them if they would have given him 36 seats in the Delhi Assembly instead of 28.
No matter how many seats AAP gets on May 16th, it has already triggered a hope among the Indian voters that they matter and they don’t have to accept the status quo which is full of corruption and lies uttered every day by the politicians. But how long will that hope last and how widespread its impact will be, is anybody’s guess at this juncture.
Author/news analyst Ravi M. Khanna is a free lance reporter who covered India’s six previous general elections for Voice of America, Washington D.C.
Feedback: ravimohankhanna@gmail.com
