(Nalin S Kohli is spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Director of the party's Public Policy Research Centre. He is also a lawyer and has extensive experience in media and education.)
James Harold Wilson, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is famously quoted as saying "a week is a long time in politics". However, for the defenders of the faith within the Aam Aadmi Party, perhaps the tumultuous first thirty days in office might appear an eternity.
With no shortage of "masala" or drama, the events hold the potential to be viewed as a blockbuster movie in a swanky multiplex. The chief protagonist appears to be a humble and idealistic soul out to change the big bad world. His vehicle for enabling utopian change is a dream organization supposedly based on high moral standards and glorious ideals of perfect internal democracy, collective leadership, ethical standards in candidate profiling and selection, among all else utopian.
His fellow travellers are also painted with the same brush. All are supposedly united as a melodic choir singing in harmony a hymn of change.
Thereafter, the "hero" and his worthies first launch their tirade of allegations against all and sundry. In the process they ignore the very foundation of the rule of law. For them, every person outside their fold is guilty till proven innocent, and their word is to be treated as core evidence for accusation, prosecution and sentencing. Given the hype around this high-pitched drama, they occupy great space in an age of 24-hour news channels. Their critics, however, label the movement as one of the media, for the media and by the media.
Applauded, then damned, events turn for them again. In true Bollywood style, a miraculous victory is achieved and the hero leads his army to a historic sweep, snatching virtually all assembly seats in Delhi. During the campaign, and after the result, there is song and dance. Everyone celebrates.
INTERVAL.How can a post-interval script not have a twist? Suddenly, the fellow co-travellers display temerity in questioning the hitherto unanimously supported leader about a rather evident lack of adherence to his proclaimed ideals of internal democracy and transparency. But, since the hero can do no wrong, the questioners find themselves being questioned for asking questions. Their motives become eminently suspect. Suggestive leaks seek to paint them as a band out to sink the ship at the altar of personal ambition. In high drama, banishment from the high round table is meted out and the original knights in shining armour find themselves out of favour with the King!
Now that the King has displayed a tough and hardened stance, he must have a soft heart. A book launch becomes a convenient event to confirm this. The author of the book bears testimony to the abilities of the leader who apparently wept like an inconsolable child and sought self-banishment from authority when questioned by the now-banished
paltan. But true to expectations, persuasion prevailed and he "reluctantly" agreed to retain his position.
That, however, was before victory and power came knocking, this time in good measure through Delhi's voters. With power and office, change becomes possible and the reluctance to hold position metamorphoses 180 degrees into a reluctance to leave position.
Accusations, insinuations, statements follow both ways. As an explanation, reminiscent of the decades of 1960s and 1970s, some sell conspiracy theories as the scourge behind all these events. A few worthies within the fold propagate these conspiracies rather wholeheartedly to distract focus from their own omissions and commissions.
And in the grand finale, the cinematic climax (at least so far), the great Indian propagator of sting operations finds himself stung! A clandestinely-recorded audio clip all but robs him of every layer of his meticulously-crafted holy sheen.
Through all this drama, the AAP has appeared more like a daily political soap opera rather than a political entity focussed on governance and delivery. Political cohesion within a party is built on the foundation of a shared ideological bonding and agenda within its leadership and cadre. Any entity founded on a bed-rock of half-truths, untruths, shifting stands and internal conflict is an entity hastening its slide.
A people's mandate is an opportunity to serve. Those with lesser values and moral standards consider it as an opportunity to serve themselves. That is the usual lament when it comes to the political standards within the country.
It is clear that the AAP and its leadership has been preaching values and ideals without adhering to them. If Mr Kejriwal and his team are serious about what they say, they need to ensure that the citizens of Delhi don't get a raw deal for the mandate they have given to the AAP. Every citizen of the city is entitled to expect an improvement in their lives as well as in the facilities to make the capital of India a world-class city.
However, given what one has witnessed over the past thirty days, one wonders whether Delhi needs to brace itself for a whole new level of blame game and excuses to enable the AAP to wash its hands off implementing an agenda. So far the story has focussed on Fights, Lies and Videotape......
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