Defeat and denial. Two simple words. AAP has been accused of both on a day when the MCD results were declared. Yes, we are defeated, in terms of pure numbers, but are we in denial is the question the media has been harping on since morning. No, we are not in denial. We are walking a path which is unconventional, unorthodox, not routine. I don't want to sound arrogant but there are certain questions which need to be asked, have to be shouted from the roof top as Indian democracy is in deep crisis. I know that the Indian state has far greater resilience than it is considered to have, but someone has to do what Winston Churchill said, "The nation had the lion's heart. I had the luck to be called upon give the roar." Today, AAP has to give the roar. It has to be said that there are serious doubts about the functioning of EVMs. This has to be roared.
The MCD results are baffling. A party which in its long history of ten years in running the MCD has no achievement to proclaim has returned with improved numbers; and the party which has been doing fabulous work, has been changing the landscape of governance in the city, has been reduced to a poor second. This is beyond comprehension. There is no logic to this madness. The BJP has turned Delhi in the most spectacular way into a grand dust-bin. One can see garbage dumped at every corner of the capital which spreads diseases, but the BJP-led MCD has no time for sanitation despite Prime Minister Modi's "Clean India" campaign. There is rubbish all around. Roads and streets are never cleaned. It has made Delhi streets a vast smelling ground. The Delhi High Court has admonished the MCD many a times and even gone to the extent of saying that if you can't manage, just "fold it up".
It is in public knowledge that the MCD is the most corrupt body. Nothing moves without paying a bribe. The sitting counsillors have gobbled up
Rs 1,942 crores of pensioners' money. There are more than
20,000 ghost employees whose salaries are being drawn every month. There is no auditing record of its revenue stream since 2012. MCD-run primary schools, hospitals are in dire state. Less than 25% of house tax is accrued. Rs 2 to 5 lakhs are fixed as extortion money for any modification in the house for the local councillors. The BJP could not muster up the courage to give tickets to its sitting councillors, it couldn't find one honest councillor who could be repeated in this election, but the BJP still managed to win more seats than last time.
AAP on the other hand has fulfilled its promises about water, power, education and hospitals. It has not increased power and water tariff in the last two years. VAT has been reduced from 12.5% to 5% on more than a hundred items. The AAP government has presented a Zero-Tax budget in the last two years. The Treasury is running in surplus despite allegations of a subsidy economy. Corruption is reduced by 81% in the Delhi government, and there is an
increase of 67% in the Modi-led central government as mentioned in the Central Vigilance Commission report tabled in parliament. The Aaj Tak channel survey, two days ago, showed that 57% Delhi-
wallahs are unhappy with MCD, and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal is the most popular leader. Despite this dichotomy, the BJP wants us to believe that they are the preferred party of governance and AAP has failed to impress people with good work. How can someone believe this?
This miracle has happened in Delhi. This is dangerous. AAP has expressed serious doubts about the EVMs. But we are accused of being sore losers. Let me remind my readers that AAP is not the first party and Arvind is not the first leader to raise this issue. Back in 2009, just after BJP's massive debacle in parliamentary elections, the BJP's then tallest leader L K Advani raised the issue of EVMs, demanded that elections be held through ballot papers again. His party member and present spokesperson of the party G. V. L. Narasimha Rao wrote a well-researched book titled - "Democracy at Risk - Can we trust EVMs". BJP member of parliament Subramanian Swami had appealed in the Supreme Court on this issue. The Supreme Court had ordered that VVPATs be installed in EVMs to guard against tampering.
So to say that AAP is the first party to raise this issue is an attempt to misguide people. AAP did not mention this issue when Modi won 282 seats, rather it congratulated him and his party for a grand victory. AAP did not raise this issue when, just after the parliamentary election, the BJP won four states in a row in Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and J&K. It also did not say a word when BJP recorded a historic victory in Assam. It raised this issue very recently when complaints started pouring in about malfunctioning of EVMs, when different candidates began saying that in a few booths and villages, candidates did not get a single vote, though the candidate and his families had at least voted in his favour. AAP raised this issue when it saw EVMs which were put for mock polling voting for the BJP in Bhind. And a similar incident were also recorded in Dhaulpur, Rajasthan. The malfunctioning argument would have been accepted if machines had been voting for people other than the BJP too. Every machine which acted funny was voting only for the BJP. Why? It raises serious doubts. Have machines been tampered to benefit a particular party after the demonetisation fiasco which has impoverished millions of people and created joblessness in bulk?
AAP immediately raised an alarm and met the Election Commission. The Congress led a 13-party delegation to meet the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, to apprise him about EVMs and ask for the return of the ballot papers. Most surprisingly, the Prime Minister's Office did not respond to 11 reminders sent by the Election Commission to sanction Rs 3,000 crores for the installation of VVPAT (paper trail) in EVMs. The Election Commission had begged the Prime Minister's Office that it would be a violation of the Supreme Court order if it failed to do so. Why were 11 reminders ignored? There was no need to send reminders, the Prime Minister's Office should have acted on its own! This sounds suspicious.
Then, for MCD elections, the outdated pre-2006 generation EVMs were used. This happened even when newer Generation 2 and 3 EVMs were available. It cannot be a coincidence that at the same time, the UP State Election Commission wrote to the Election Commission saying that 2006-generation EVMs are good for nothing and can't be used for elections and new machines should be provided. The Election Commission concurred with the Uttar Pradesh wing's viewpoint. It's a bizarre situation. In UP, these very EVMs can't be used, but they can be trusted for Delhi? Why? Does it not make the whole situation mysterious? AAP had requested the Delhi State Election Commissioner to at least install VVPAT in these machines if it can't change them, but our demand fell on deaf ears. We challenged this in the Delhi High Court, which said there wasn't enough time, so elections should take place as per schedule. Courts don't intervene once the election process is on.
Now I leave it to the wisdom of the readers to infer and to the public at large. It's a roar to save democracy. Count Galeazzo Ciano said long back "Victory finds a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan". But orphans have rights- the right to seek justice and fight for the bigger dream that is India.
(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.