The performance of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the
Delhi elections is impressive but not unprecedented. There have been more
remarkable precedents in the past. The huge victory of the Janata Party in the
elections to the Lok Sabha after the lifting of the Emergency, the decimation
of the Congress by the DMK in what was then known as Madras state, and the
coming to power in Assam by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a party formed by the
activists of the All Assam Students Union, are few instances that come easily
to mind. All these parties came to power by concentrating on a single
point plan: the Janata Party to end
Indira Gandhi's rule, the DMK to protect Tamil from the Hindi onslaught,
and the AGP to keep Assam for the Assamese. The AAP too had pinned its electoral
strategy on a single slogan: eradicate corruption! In the 16-point AAP
manifesto the first was its, " Commitment to passing (the) Delhi Jan
Lokpal Bill within 15 days of coming to power."
Obviously, the slogan was appealing. Otherwise the AAP
would not have managed to get 30 percent of the votes polled as against the
BJP's 33 percent and the Congress's 25 percent. For a rookie party this victory
is certainly impressive. But is it a strong indicator that the anti-corruption
wave sentiment has gripped the masses? The voting percentage advises caution.
The votes polled by the BJP and the Congress indicate three facts: one, the
vast majority their followers (more than
50 percent of the voters) have not brought into AAP's tirade against their
parties; two, they do not place a premium on AAP's promise to usher in a
corruption-free Delhi; and three, the youth vote does not seem to be
disproportionately in favour of the AAP.
Unfortunately, Kejriwal & Co. do not see the results
this way. They have confused an impressive victory for a great one.
This is not merely an outburst fuelled by a post-poll exuberance. The moral
agenda that drives the AAP's leadership, to the exclusion of everything else,
has made them zealots. They actually believe that taking a strong
anti-corruption stance is the alpha and omega of politics and that everything
else falls in between or out.
The other issues included in their manifesto - power,
water, sewage, public transport, etc. - and the suggested solutions to these
problem areas are based on the premise that the root cause of every problem is
corruption. For example, "Delhi’s consumers have been getting inflated
bills due to malpractices by (distribution companies) Discoms. AAP promises a
reduction of consumers’ electricity expenditure by 50%. This will be done by
ordering an audit of Discoms, rectifying inflated bills and getting electricity
bills checked by independent agencies." That an ex-Indian Revenue Service
officer would see an audit as a panacea for high power bills is as natural as
any former General stressing the lack of discipline as the source of all
problems in a company, city, or country!
Zealotry in electoral politics can take a party only so
far and no further. The art of politics especially in a democracy is the
practice of giving and taking, or as Churchill put it, ' the art of the
possible'. At the time of writing, the Congress has indicated that it is
willing to unconditionally accept an AAP government in Delhi. The AAP's
zealotry will not allow it to unconditionally accept
this offer. Hence the 18 conditions listed by the AAP to accept the
unconditional support of the Congress. The list is based by and large on AAP's election
manifesto.
In a democracy every party fights an election on its own
manifestos and if and when one party forms a government with the support of
another, then the norm is to draw up an agreed common programme. The AAP does
not respect this practice. Like a spoiled brat it will only play under its own
rules.
A zealot is a zealot is a zealot...until time and age
hopefully catches up with him before it's too late.
Very true
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