Category: Politics

Is the middle class starting to have second thoughts about the Aam Aadmi Party? A key issue that seems to be bothering their minds is the recent resignation of the Kejriwal government in Delhi. There are some who say, “You had an opportunity to govern but you threw it all away because you were too ambitious and wanted to grow bigger, faster – let the BJP govern in 2014 and we’ll vote for you in 2019.” A simple thought comes to mind: Can we tolerate such extreme corruption in this country for another 5 years? Is choosing the lesser of the two evils the only way forward?

Let us retrace the steps leading up to the resignation of the Kejriwal government in Delhi.  When the Jan Lokpal bill was expected to be tabled in the assembly, Arvind Kejriwal had an on-stage interview in the midst of the Delhi Lit Festival where he had said categorically that if the bill can’t be passed, his government would resign. This was telecast live. The anchor was thrilled and at the same time surprised because, firstly, she knew she had just been delivered a TRP coup, and secondly, she was least expecting such a candid response from the young CM.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

The middle class which heavily backed the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) during the Delhi elections appears to be having some second thoughts for a whole host of reasons. Let me address two of these pet peeves in this piece: We don’t like the subsidies for power and electricity, AAP is the B-team of the Congress and is being used by them to stop the Modi juggernaut.

I’ll start with the last one first, as it’s the easiest and the more ridiculous of the two. Firstly, these conspiracy theorists must ask themselves these questions: Who had the guts to expose Robert Vadera? It is an accepted reality that everyone (including those in the media and the BJP veterans in Delhi) knew about Mr. Vadera’s dealings but no one but Arvind Kejriwal  had the wherewithal to stand up to the high and mighty, and put everything at risk to bring to light serious charges of corruption. Besides, the ministers of the UPA government, most of whom were from the Congress, was alsoexposed by the then Team Anna. Would the B-team of the Congress strike at the very heart of the Congress? It just does not make sense whatsoever.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

I met up with a handful of friends at a social gathering recently. Most of them were IIT-ians and invariably the topic of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and of Arvind Kejriwal came up. It was only a matter of time before one of them brought up the issue of water subsidies introduced by the AAP while in power in Delhi. He was referring to an observation made by a columnist that the 700 L of free water was a pro-rich measure. The theory put forth in the article was that poorer households have more members and hence need more water than the affluent, and so it is the rich who benefit from these subsidies.

As usual, everyone weighed in. Some felt the subsidies were populist measures. Others felt it was a creditable move on the part of the government. I then popped the question, “Do you know how much water you use in your house in a month?” Not surprisingly, no one in the room had an answer. This is the reality. Most people, even among the educated class, do not know how much water they consume and many have no idea how much their water bills are every month either.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

As India evolves and communication technologies improve by the day, the role of the media in India’s future is becoming increasingly critical. The tendency to report based on unverified information is fast becoming the norm, as you will see in the case of the various articles referenced here.

Take the example of this news report on Kumar Vishwas’ rally in Amethi. It clearly says that the event was a success despite some hiccups. Now, take a look at this report that deems it a flop! It’s the exact same event that is being reported on. But the conclusions are diametrically opposite. Clearly, they both can’t be true! The issue of whether an event is a success or a flop can be a matter of opinion. But there should be no ambiguity about the real “data” – how large the crowd was, the response of the crowd, etc.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

There is always a lot of talk about how technology is evolving in the world we live in- how new technologies are emerging while old ones fall out of favor. If you want to see how technology is changing the world, just look at how kids and the younger generation use it. For instance, they collaborate on Google docs, they stay in touch via text and Instant Messaging, they take pictures and share them instantaneously via Facebook and Snapchat, they do mobile search to find restaurants and shops, and when parents are lost they are quick to use Google Maps to find the most convenient routes. In contrast, if you belong to a slightly older generation, here is what your technology life looks like – you email MS-Word documents and spreadsheets back and forth, you hear your kids say, “Mom/Dad, don’t use IE, use Chrome!”, you take pictures but you need your kids to upload it and give you a link that you can email to your family, you have a hard time switching from TV to DVD to on-demand, while recording TV shows that you love seems like rocket science. Ok, if you belong to the second category I won’t embarrass you any more.

Interestingly, the world of Indian politics seems to be evolving in a similar fashion. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appears to be operating and forging ahead on a totally different “wavelength” than the rest of India’s political parties. For instance, the AAP launched a membership campaign with an ambitious target of 1 crore members. In an attempt to achieve its goal, the party has waived the membership fee of Rs.10 for a 15 day period. Today, anyone can become a member by submitting a form on the AAP website, mailing in a completed registration form or via SMS. There is no question that this is a brilliant move by the party and here is why. Generations of Indians have never known what it’s like or what it means to be the member of a political party. A large part of our population has never ever been a member of any party, no matter what their political leanings might be. The AAP has completely changed this notion with its massive membership drive. Firstly, the AAP has made the process  of becoming a member very simple. Secondly, the party has run a time-bound promotion of sorts drawing from traditional retail marketing techniques, thereby creating a sense of urgency like never before.

The membership drive by the AAP is bound to have long-term implications for the party itself and Indian politics as a whole, much of which is not apparent now. For Indians who have never officially joined any political party in their life, the step of joining the AAP is a simple but momentous one. Firstly, it’s a sign that the AAP’s message resonates with them. Next, it gives the AAP a sense of where their fan base lies. The AAP can slice and dice the data to determine its strong and weak constituencies. Thirdly, there is automatically a shared sense of ownership and participation in the political process that India has not seen since the early days of Independence. Lastly and most importantly, the AAP will soon be able to communicate directly with its expanded member base in a heart-beat using all the latest technologies – Internet, SMS, social media, live streaming, you name it. As a result, the AAP will be able to reach out and mobilize its party rank and file, even without the help of the media. It will be able to counter negative campaigns much better and faster. It can plan and conduct referendums and seek inputs from its supporter base when desired. The traditional megaphone will be brilliantly complemented with a few mouse clicks that can carry the AAP’s message far and wide.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

Our media has been going gaga over the last several months positioning the upcoming Lok Sabha election as some kind of “beauty contest” between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. With the Congress party receiving a drubbing in the recent assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi’s leadership is being questioned by one and all. Meanwhile, the AAP after its electoral success in Delhi, has now captured the imagination of the media. Slowly but surely, the media appears to be re-positioning its discussions now around “Kejriwal vs. Modi” battle for the Lok Sabha.

The AAP supporters look at this with dreamy, optimistic eyes. The BJP fans look at this with a mixture of fear and frustration – “The AAP will not let the BJP come to power, nor can they come to power on their own. They might just end up helping the Congress. Why don’t they wait till 2019 and join hands with BJP this time around to fight the Congress?” The Congress party appears to be in a soul searching mode after its recent defeats in the assembly elections and, at present, views this with a mixture of concern and despondency.

Despite the media’s self-serving desire to rake up its TRPs by debating non-existent personality battles, if the Delhi elections are any indication, the upcoming Lok Sabha polls are not going to be based on personalities but on “bread and butter” issues that affects the aam aadmi across the country. Arvind Kejriwal, during the Delhi campaign, repeatedly said in many of his speeches, “People flock to help the AAP not because they love the AAP or love Arvind Kejriwal. They are here because they love this country. The idea is for all of us to come together to solve the problems of this country.” Contrast this with the BJP’s hero worship of Modi as “the man with all the answers” and his own talk about how “hunky-dory” things are in Gujarat.

What the AAP has going for it is its straight-forward, simplistic message – one based on honesty, integrity and probity in public life with a zero-tolerance towards corruption, plus a focus on everyday issues such as water, electricity, public education and health, women’s safety – that has won the hearts of Delhi-ites and more than perked the curiosity of many all over India. With the victory in Delhi, the AAP’s powerful message has already started to resonate with the people across the country.

In 1963, when Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech, a million people from all across the US travelled to Washington. In those days, there was no email, SMS, Internet, social media or any such mechanisms that we have today to spread the word. Yet, people flocked to the event in droves. They did so because they deeply believed in Martin Luther King’s message of ending segregation. There is no doubt that he was a dynamic and moving speaker, but it was the power, honesty and appeal behind his message that drew people to the cause.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

After the Delhi elections, the BJP with 32 seats was clearly within striking distance of forming a government. The Congress party, with 8 seats, was completely battered and in no position to stake a claim. The AAP stood at second place with 28 seats. No sooner had the results been announced, the two major parties began their political posturing while the AAP stuck to its pre-election stand of, “We will neither take nor give support to either the Congress or the BJP.”

With 32 seats, the BJP was the natural choice to form the government. Unfortunately for the BJP, they decided to not take the support of the Congress or the AAP. In fact, it appears that they chose not to even explore those possibilities. At the same time, not wanting to be seen as a “wheeling-dealing” party despite its poor track record on this front in states like Karnataka, the BJP decided to take the moral high ground and turned down the offer to form the government.

The Congress party went a step further than the BJP by first saying it would provide “unconditional support” and later waffling on the true meaning of the word “unconditional.” The AAP, in a clever move, involved the people in the decision-making process by going in for an unprecedented referendum. With the people behind them, the AAP clearly had the wind in its sails. It decided to form the government with the “outside support” of the Congress party.

There have been voices of disagreement from within the Congress ranks about it decision to support the AAP. It appears that the Congress is now terrified that they can’t easily withdraw support because, unlike in the past, where support of this nature was discussed behind closed doors (often with cash enticements), now “everything is in the open.” Any attempt to play politics as usual and topple the AAP government in the short-term could show them in very poor light and ruin whatever little chances they might have in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. At present, the Congress’s best hope is that the AAP makes a false move after coming to power, so they can use that as an excuse to pull the rug from under the AAP government. In short, the Congress party has boxed itself into a corner with no good options.

Once the BJP decided not to form the government in Delhi, it started egging the AAP by saying, “We will provide constructive support, the AAP is running away from their responsibility of forming a government, etc.”  However, after the AAP decided to form the government, the BJP started to claim that the AAP was hand-in-glove with the Congress. By first criticizing the AAP for not forming the government, and later criticizing the AAP for accepting the support of the Congress, the BJP in Delhi has shown muddled political thinking. It should come as no surprise that they are left exactly where they have been for the last 15 years – warming the opposition benches. The second prize winner, the AAP, instead walked away with ultimate prize of forming the government.

In a brilliant and possibly game-changing move the AAP decided to take the decision of whether to form the government in Delhi directly back to the people for their inputs. For the first time in Indian politics, feedback is being sought directly from the people using ubiquitous present-day technologies – email, sms, Internet, social media etc. Delhi is a relatively small state and hence a perfect testbed for such progressive democratic experiments.

The Congress and BJP are surprised by this move and have tried to respond to this in traditional political style – “Are you going go back to the people for every decision? Are you afraid to form the government? Form the government and let us see how you deliver on your promises etc.” Some call it a “drama being enacted by AAP.” Nitin Gadkari calls its “right-wing Maoism!” The reality is that our two major parties and large sections of the media are completely flummoxed by this new brand of politics.

It is interesting that this is happening in the backdrop of the supposedly historic passage of the Lokpal bill. Contrast what is happening in Delhi with the sequence of events that lead to the passage of the Lokpal bill. Anna Hazare was at the forefront of the Lokpal battle in 2011. His fast brought lakhs of people to the streets at that time. But now Anna seems to be happy with the revised sarkari Lokpal bill. The BJP and Congress were thrilled that Anna had turned around and diluted his earlier demands. But are the people who supported Anna in 2011 still backing him on his new position on the Lokpal bill? In other words, is this revised bill acceptable to the lakhs of people who supported him in 2011? As of today, we just don’t know the answer to these questions because no attempt was made to get the direct response of the people. In this case a “political consensus” does not necessarily mean a “consensus of the people.” Thankfully, the elections are just round the corner and the people of the country can deliver their verdict in the next few months.

There is fundamental difference between what happened with the Lokpal bill and what is happening in Delhi today. In Delhi the focus is not on the individuals. Instead the focus is on the people. What we see unfolding is a consultative process where every citizen is actively co-opted into the decision-making process, thereby creating a shared sense of community, ownership and people empowerment like never before.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

The Congress party, after having been walloped in the recent assembly elections, is desperate for a victory of any sort. Rahul Gandhi, whose leadership has been questioned by one and all, is desperate to look leader-like. At a minimum, he needs at least a legislative victory to strengthen his leadership credentials. Not surprisingly, after having made one rather inconsequential speech in the Lok Sabha on the Lokpal issue, he has now jumped on the Lokpal bandwagon.

The BJP, on the other hand, while thrilled about its success in MP and Rajasthan, and happy at having scraped through in Chattisgarh, is shaken by the rise of the AAP in Delhi. The AAP, riding on its stupendous success in the Delhi assembly elections, is starting to look like a formidable wild card for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress and the BJP appear to be shaken by the new brand of politics unleashed by AAP and the unprecedented traction it appears to have garnered among the people. Since the AAP’s origins can be traced back to the Lokpal agitation, the Congress and the BJP have realized that a Lokpal bill is an issue that still weighs on voters’ minds. Not surprisingly, both the BJP and the Congress are desperate to resurrect the Lokpal bill, which has been lying as legislative roadkill for the last couple of years.

What makes the Lokpal revival even more interesting is Anna Hazare’s transformed role in it. It’s hard to not to feel sorry for Anna. He went from being everywhere to nowhere in a little over a year. After Arvind Kejriwal and his team formed the AAP, IAC (India Against Corruption) was virtually dead. A retired police chief and a former army chief, both of whose loyalties to the BJP are India’s worst kept political secrets, together could not muster the energy and ground forces required to revive the IAC campaign. Meanwhile, the AAP has made a mark in Indian politics and is here to stay.

In an attempt to remain relevant, Anna embarked on a fast saying he wanted the Lokpal bill to be passed. Unlike in the past, where he had the astute assistance of the likes of Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan, and his fasts were launched with very clear demands, this fast had no specifics of which version of the Lokpal he was fasting for. In hindsight, it was perhaps a strategic move so he could claim victory no matter which version was passed. With Anna losing his significance, he and his associates badly needed to claim victory too. But instead of openly admitting that they have buckled down on their earlier demands dating back to the height of the Lokpal agitation, Anna and his associates are now singing the praises of the Government-sponsored diluted Lokpal bill!

The Bill does not address the three issues that were accepted in an unanimous resolution by Parliament when Anna called off his fast at the height of the Lokpal agitation. These issues were: all public servants, high or low would be included in the investigative ambit of the Lokpal; the Lokpal would also monitor the Citizen’s charters and have the power to penalize public authorities and servants who violate it; and the Lokpal bill would contain provisions for Lokayuktas on the same lines as the Lokpal for the States, which would take up corruption among State public servants. Most importantly, the current version of the Bill will not make the CBI truly independent, which was the key issue of the Lokpal agitation. Besides, the transfer, postings and post-retirement jobs of CBI officers would still be very much under the control of the government, thus compromising the independence of the CBI.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

The AAP’s unprecedented success in the Delhi elections has surprised one and all. Rahul Gandhi says that the Congress should learn from AAP. One BJP spokesperson still insists that AAP is the B-team of the Congress! Running out of ideas, perhaps? The BJP, while still in denial, has realized that the AAP is a force to reckon with and that perhaps they made a huge mistake by underestimating it.

Here are some lessons from the AAP’s success, many of which blow away popular myths about Indian politics and its implications for the future:

Black Money is not needed: It’s a myth that you need to spend several crores to win an election. AAP’s success explodes this myth. One can stick to the Election Commission’s stipulated expense limits and still win elections. This is bound to embolden many, who stayed away for fear of lack of funds, to now step forward and contest elections.

Big Names are not needed: You don’t need celebrity candidates to win elections. We read about Kejriwal’s crushing defeat of Sheila Dixit, but an equally big story lies in the defeat of veteran politicians at the hands of relatively unknown AAP candidates – Ashok Chauhan, Rakhi Birla, Akhilesh Tripathi, to name a few. This is bound to set a trend where people from all walks of life step forward to join politics with the genuine desire to serve the country.

Funding can come from the people: If you have the right intent and the aspirations, people will step up to fund your election. You don’t need to depend on black money and sell out to people who are on the lookout for post election favors. AAP’s open fund-raising could set a trend where large donors will come out into the open with their donations. Many will donate openly to multiple parties.

You don’t need decades to build a party: The popular belief was that it took years to build a political party.The BJP took several decades to reach its present state. Even now, it has a presence only in a handful of states in the Hindi belt, whereas AAP rose to its present position in less than a year. With an excellent ground campaign combined with the use of modern day technology, it is possible to reach out to voters faster than ever before. The AAP is likely to try and replicate its Delhi success in other parts of the country. It already has offices all across India but strong leadership like the kind seen in Delhi will be the key to its pan-India success.

There is a desperate need for an alternative: The country has been choosing the BJP, Congress, and the regional parties because there are no alternatives. When the Congress fails, people rush to the BJP; when Mayawati fails, they go for the SP; when Karunanidhi fails, they go for Jayalalitha; when Left parties fail, they go for the Congress-led UDF. Thus, the BJP’s success in the recent assembly polls can, to a large extent, be attributed to the lack of alternatives. Delhi was the only state where there was an alternative and the people voted heavily in favor of AAP. The politics of substitution could be replaced by the politics of the alternative in the months and years to come.

The BJP is vulnerable: The top leadership of the BJP, based in Delhi, pooh-poohed AAP’s rise before the elections. One stalwart said that AAP was in dreamland. The other said a vote for AAP is a wasted vote. It just shows how out of touch and out of tune even the top leadership in the BJP is today, despite being based in the capital. As of today, the BJP’s biggest asset is the prevailing anti-incumbency mood. AAP’s success in Delhi proves when you have stiff competition, the BJP is vulnerable, despite anti-incumbency working in its favor.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times