This
Emperor Wears People Power
The fairy-tale talks of an Emperor who was
naked but thought he was dressed in rich raiment. This latest Chief Minister of
Delhi, no fairy himself, has dressed himself, from muffler to sandals, in
people power. He is still 8 inconvenient seats short of his Stalinist ambitions,
but these are being provided by a Congress Party keen on being the power behind
the throne. Meanwhile Delhi State is bent on taking one reckless populist step
after another with no revenue generation scheme in sight.
Mr. Kejriwal is meanwhile glowing and
bristling with potential threat, as if he has invented populism for the very
first time. His party-men say you can topple us in Delhi but the ‘people’ will
make you pay for it nationally. This one
is aimed at Congress along with threats to investigate corruption in their past
15 years of rule. For the BJP, some AAP spokesperson has indicated that AAP
might abolish the MCD altogether for its corruption!
Truly, the AAP is basking in national attention,
and expects to use its actions, pronouncements and speeches in Delhi as a
catapult to get themselves into the Lok Sabha. All their atmospherics are deeply embarrassing
to other seasoned politicos, but amuse those who enjoy their discomfiture.
Whether it is the speed of their actions
taken, or that disconcerting advertisement of a paper cap, the sandals, the off-
the- street clothes, the Metro and three-wheeler travel, it all makes for a
spectacle. But the AAP is a very disturbing phenomenon, instant ‘street creds’
on steroids is now holding the levers of power in the capital, and plainly
stating its menacingly ‘honest’ intentions.
Then, there is the CM’s own bush-shirt,
sweater, muffler, frequent coughs and high fevers, that do not however stop the
ringing, absolutist sound-bytes on TV. All this, contrasted with his impossible
to ignore IIT Kharagpur and IRS credentials, his Magsaysay Award, his NGO
network, which suggest he knows exactly what he is doing. Arvind Kejriwal is no
aam aadmi , but his moment seems to
have come.
Plus the on-target talk of an additional 45
Night Shelters for the shivering homeless to be built in 72 hours, the use of
own, modest transport, the ‘no’ to Government bungalows and ‘lal battis’, the use of minimal police
security, the small set of AAP
ministers announced, the new broom sweeps clean symbolism etc. All of it is resonating with the poor and the
beleaguered. The long ignored urban middle class is basking in its overnight
prominence, and are also absolutely delighted with the AAP talk of ending
corruption. The politicos too are spooked. They quickly passed the Lokpal Bill,
pending for decades, in both houses of parliament, before it could make more
trouble for them.
The Kejriwal brand of Far- Left Socialist
demagoguery is so expert and striking, that many highly educated, well-to-do
and accomplished people are beguiled into calling it revolutionary and fresh.
Perhaps it is, compared to the blundering politics as usual, but please note
that the AAP never ever speaks of earning any of the money they seem so ready
to spend! They are all about a clean-up,
but who’s going to do the ramping up of the Government’s and indeed the
people’s finances? The amazing thing is nobody seems to be worried about the
economic thinking of the AAP, so caught up is everybody in the theatrics of
this moment. Right now, AAP is spending the surplus left to them by the
Congress Government, itself gone in thirty seconds before it.
Another one of AAP’s young representatives
said it will not be building more flyovers, implying the money is going to be
spent on schools, subsidies for the poor and so forth. If the Congress said 145 new schools, the AAP
has been asserting they will build 500! And the talk on better governance, ration cards,
babus working without bribes etc. is
also music to people’s ears. But let us not hold our breath on better
infrastructure. There is not a word on such matters.
Such is the emotional connect achieved by
this audacious stance, that most people assert cynicism has no place in any
gazing at the AAP. But despite the improbable razzle- dazzle, the open your
hearts, minds and purses (Pay in Rs. 2014 each to AAP online), pitch; the
middle class supporters of the AAP who are not closet Communists, need to
reflect.
They are unlikely to receive a
corruption-free polity just because AAP says so, however zealously. Lenin,
Stalin, Mao, even Naxalite Kanu Sanyal in West Bengal, have said it all before
Kejriwal, with precious little to show
for it except misery and disruption. Though, it is conceded that the corrupt
may indeed become a little wary and cautious till the AAP stumbles and loses
its shine.
Meanwhile, it seems apparent already that
the bulk of the middle-class and above in Delhi will most likely have to put
their money where their mouths are, irrespective of whether they support AAP or
not, via higher taxes and levies imposed. Reckless subsidies, people friendly
measures, and giveaways to the poor, help build excellent political muscle.
Congress knows it. And now the AAP is going one better.
But how long AAP will last in the Delhi
Government, is dependent on how much traction it demonstrates in its efforts
elsewhere. If it does well, it will be encouraged as Congress’s B Team. It
could take away votes from the BJP/ NDA, the regional parties too, and possibly
add a little lost sheen to the Congress as well. If not, it will be shown the
door very quickly.
But,
AAP is already talking over the heads of the current political dispensation. It
is speaking directly to the people’s hunger for change. It is saying it will
change all Government into its responsive and honest avatar. Kejriwal is aiming for the prime-ministership
himself.
It may be good however to remember that
these liaisons between aspiration and reality are never very neat. The poor
don’t really trust their sympathisers, and their awakened desires tend to be
somewhat endless and difficult to fulfill. The bourgeois have always been mistrusted by
the poor and working classes, seen as some kind of hapless buffer, at the mercy
of the powers-that-be. Where would one peg Arvind Kejriwal, who has made a
Faustian pact with the Congress? And who speaks of himself as synonymous with
the voice of the people?
It is a good thing we are a functioning
democracy in the end, when such a motley collection of DIY and change-artist
do-gooders pop up and wag their fingers at the rest. But let us not get ahead
of ourselves. Much has happened in just
one week. What miracles might the AAP pull off by next week, let alone in the
months to come?
(1,130
words)
January
2nd 2014
Gautam
Mukherjee
No comments:
Post a Comment