Stand-ins and Cut-outs

Stand-ins and Cut-outs

Like Mikhail Gorbachev’s presiding over the destruction of the USSR in the name of glasnost and perestroika, the Congress Party/UPA has been shockingly cavalier with security issues and terrorist attacks in the interests of vote-bank politics. They are not even afraid to sow the seeds of balkanisation by being soft on separatists and Maoists in a diverse country like ours.

Not satisfied with its own cynical disregard of national security interests, Congress is busy encouraging its cat’s paw, the fledgling AAP, to further stir the hornet’s nest. Sandeep Dikshit, the former Delhi CM’s son and Congress MP, is said to be guiding the puppet CM Arvind Kejriwal’s policies as per AAP insider turned dissident Vinod Binny. Sandeep Dikshit on his part, in probable  embarrassment and self-defence, has said that: ‘ The AAP, which began as a party with issues has become a party with personalities’.

Meanwhile, the AAP blatantly boasts Maoist sympathiser Binayak Sen and Kashmir separatist sympathiser Prashant Bhushan, who has allegedly worked as a lawyer for some of the Kashmiri separatists, in its National Executive. Bhushan, who is also a founder member of AAP, and has reportedly donated Rs 1 crore to its coffers, is brazenly promoting the idea of withdrawing the Indian Army from both hot-spots.

This fanning the flames of sedition is AAP’s only national level security initiative in its weeks in power. And the only economic initiatives are subsidies on water and electricity. But both have post-election/government formation riders and codicils, which actually make a total travesty of both  election promises. This too has been pointed out by Binny. Besides, AAP may not have the financial wherewithal or the legal mandate to see it through.

There are also other worrying election promises pending implementation, such as making contract workers permanent government employees, without any word on how it will be paid for. There is the regressive blocking of FDI in multi-brand retail which would have brought in foreign investment, training, lakhs of jobs, user convenience, a modern cold-chain, keener and more competitive prices at retail points, and more income for all in the supply chain, including farmers.

But AAP apparently has absolutely no interest in growth. No ideas either on the planned progress of Delhi, apart from grandiose promises on more schools and rhetoric against corruption. And their infantile action in this latter regard so far is to ask for a CAG audit of electricity distributors books, and mount ‘citizen stings’ on Government babus.  

And now, even as the AAP plans its national foray, and sharpens its attack on the BJP at probable Congress behest, there are no ideas on anything else.  Being against corruption is probably AAP’s one big idea. However, there is no attempt on its part to book any of the many Congress people known to be corrupt in Delhi!

Mercifully, we may be witnessing the unravelling of the fledgling AAP Government already. At least three dissident AAP MLAs have already appeared, making its future survival somewhat uncertain. There are allegations of blatant power hunger and dictatorial behaviour on the part of Arvind Kejriwal. This, in  addition to his being a Congress puppet.

CM Kejriwal, ever-ready to rush to the media, is seen tripping over his own daily pronouncements. His attention is already directed towards the Lok Sabha. Kejriwal probably dreams national level dreams, and plans to contest 400 Lok Sabha seats. But will Kejriwal survive as the crusading, incorruptible leader he purports to be, or be exposed as a poseur and charlatan  as some in the AAP and elsewhere would have it?

Meanwhile the AAP Government is visibly out of its depth. The rapes are continuing unabated in the ‘rape capital of the world’. The Janata Durbars have been abandoned in the midst of chaos and overreach. The anti-corruption help-lines are swamped and inadequately manned and deliver no satisfaction. The so-called citizen sting operations using cellphone audio recordings are  probably not legally admissible. The knee-jerk scrapping of FDI in Multi-brand retail  is sending out negative signals internationally. There is total silence on infrastructure issues. Permanent jobs have been promised to many working on a contract basis without budgets to sustain them. Three-wheeler fares are set to rise because the three-wheeler drivers supported the AAP campaign. But cooking gas prices are also set to rise. Vegetable and other food prices have gone up again since AAP took over, even as they have fallen elsewhere.  AAP’s subversive sallies with regard to the separatists  and Maoists are as  both dangerous and mischievous.

Apart from the dissidence we also have the doubtful ethical standards of his Law Minister Somnath Bharti, communal and anti LGBT comments from prominent AAP MLA Kumar Vishwas, a rush of opportunistic joiners of this most opportunistic of political parties, some of whom, such as Capt. Gopinath and Mallika Sarabhai, have also, quite rightly, given the supposedly moral tone off AAP, turned instant critics.

Congress may be fervently hoping that AAP will somehow thwart the BJP/NDA bid for power at the Centre. But for that, AAP needs to at least survive intact, as a political party and in its minority government. This may not be the case from present rapid developments.

It is probably accurate to see the hapless if brazen and value betraying AAP Government as no more than the Congress Party by another name. As for probity, justice, integrity and its other fine sounding promises; expect it from the Congress/ AAP at your own peril.     

(866 words)

January 15^th, 2014

Gautam Mukherjee