Should AAP form the government in Delhi ?
That has been the million dollar question making rounds and has been the hot topic of discussions amongst people, both those who are interested in politics as well as those who are not interested in politics.
Delhi elections have been very unprecedented in Indian Politics. A brand new party like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) comes out of nowhere and before anyone could even understand what its capabilities are, what it could do, the party breezes through with 28 of the 70 seats of Delhi assembly, stunning the political analysts, experts and opponents. It took sometime for folks to digest what has just happened. And then the real game started.
Congress, the party that has been ruling Delhi for the last 15 years was decimated to 8 out of 70 seats.
BJP, the party that was in opposition for the last 15 years got 31 out of 70 seats.
AAP, the newbie who experts said may get around 10 to 15 max seats ended up getting 28 out of 70 seats and getting the vote of 1 out of every 3 people.
Remember that BJP and Congress had almost the so called experience of several decades. Whether that experience is good or not is for the Indian society to decide.
The downside of this election process has been the stark fact that Delhi people failed to give a clear majority to any single party. A clear majority means getting more than half of 70 seats which is atleast 36. So, the question is what next ?
AAP was not any traditional party. It was born out of the need for transparency in Indian Politics. It was born out of the need for more participatory democracy. It was born out of the need for people power. It was born out of the need for the eradication of deep rooted corruption in Indian poitics. It was born out of the need for better education, better health, access to utilities to all the sections of society and not just a select privileged few.
AAP, naturally has been strong on its stand that it will neither take support of Congress nor BJP. How can it take support from Congress and BJP when they refuse to divulge their funding sources ? How can it take support from Congress and BJP when they refuse to come under Right to Information Act (RTI) ? How can it take support from Congress and BJP when they refuse to pass a strong Lokpal or Lokayukta ? Fundamentally, AAP is quite different from Congress and BJP.
The story that has unravelled after the elections has been unprecedented as well. The pressure that has been mounted on AAP has been unbelievable.
Typically, the single largest party is invited first to form the government. In this case, it is BJP. If history is any evidence, then with just 5 seats short of single largest majority, if it was any other state with no AAP with its transparent politics in the role, BJP would have turned all stones to ensure they formed the government at any cost. But, by entering into politics, AAP has not only becomes a serious contender but has also changed the rules of the game in a serious way. So much so that, BJP, inspite of being the single largest party decided to sit in the opposition and would not try to get the extra support by hook or crook. Thats a positive sign. Whether BJP continues to do that in other states or at national level is a guess for everyone.
Now comes the turn of AAP. What should AAP do ? AAP has already categorically told that they would never align with Congress or BJP as they stand today. This is when, lot of people, several of them with vested interests start playing the dirty game in the politics of pressure tactics. AAP is being blamed that they are shying away from real governance. AAP is being blamed that they cannot fullfil their manifesto promises and are hence nopt willing to form the government. And several such insinuations have been made on AAP.
AAP asked why cant BJP and Congress come together to form the government ? Congress says that they have serious ideological differences with BJP and hence cannot support BJP.
Question is, since when AAP and Congress are idelogically aligned ? Since when AAP and BJP are ideologically aligned ? Never unless Congress and BJP change their ways of doing politics.
Interestingly, congress goes out of its way to say that it gives unconditional support to AAP. History is the witness to the definition of unconditional support from Congress, where Congress has pulled down governments at its whims.
AAP knows that Congress and BJP are trying to play very carefully the responsible card, ahead of Lok Sabha elections and have laid a huge trap for AAP.
The strange problem infront of AAP is, if AAP refuses support, some people are saying AAP is irresponsible. If AAP takes support, same people will say AAP is the B team of Congress and were always aligned with Congress. So, in such a situation of dirty trap laying politics, what should AAP do ?
AAP has sent a letter to both Congress and BJP asking for clarification on 18 agenda items of AAP. AAP has asked them to respond on whether they will support AAP on those 18 items. Because it is very important to ensure that Congress and BJP do not indulge in betrayal politics. So what happens next ? BJP refuses to respond to the letter. Congress responds but says that it never said unconditional support. So, is the truth really coming out on the real agenda of Congress and BJP ?
In my opinion, AAP has never beeing shying away from responsibility. But being a newbie, it has to be very careful in its actions. The only support it has is people support. AAP has been bringing in new changes to the Indian politics, albeit, to the discomfort of several of those who are used to the traditional isolated politics of India where your role is limited to voting every 5 years and not at all in decision making. In fact, it will take time for people to adapt to the new style because we are not just used to this. We are not used to being asked by politicians for our feedback.
The only option infront of AAP is, to go back to people and ask them for their opinion. And just do what people say.
As of the time of writing of this blog item, AAP has just done that because it is left with no other option. It cannot deviate from it pre-poll stand. At the same time it cannot let itself be branded as irresponsible. AAP is planning to send 25 lakhs (2.5 million) letters to a sample population of Delhi households seeking their opinion. It is also using the latest technologies of seeking people opinion via SMS as well. It has been difficult for some people to digest this and they are quick enough to brand tis effor tas reality TV tactics. But, when a paradigm shift happens in any field, whether it be technology or politics, we have to be open minded enough to welcome new ideas that will eventually turn out to be better for the society and the people.
So, to the people, the question goes : what should AAP do ? What do you want AAP to do ?
That has been the million dollar question making rounds and has been the hot topic of discussions amongst people, both those who are interested in politics as well as those who are not interested in politics.
Delhi elections have been very unprecedented in Indian Politics. A brand new party like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) comes out of nowhere and before anyone could even understand what its capabilities are, what it could do, the party breezes through with 28 of the 70 seats of Delhi assembly, stunning the political analysts, experts and opponents. It took sometime for folks to digest what has just happened. And then the real game started.
Congress, the party that has been ruling Delhi for the last 15 years was decimated to 8 out of 70 seats.
BJP, the party that was in opposition for the last 15 years got 31 out of 70 seats.
AAP, the newbie who experts said may get around 10 to 15 max seats ended up getting 28 out of 70 seats and getting the vote of 1 out of every 3 people.
Remember that BJP and Congress had almost the so called experience of several decades. Whether that experience is good or not is for the Indian society to decide.
The downside of this election process has been the stark fact that Delhi people failed to give a clear majority to any single party. A clear majority means getting more than half of 70 seats which is atleast 36. So, the question is what next ?
AAP was not any traditional party. It was born out of the need for transparency in Indian Politics. It was born out of the need for more participatory democracy. It was born out of the need for people power. It was born out of the need for the eradication of deep rooted corruption in Indian poitics. It was born out of the need for better education, better health, access to utilities to all the sections of society and not just a select privileged few.
AAP, naturally has been strong on its stand that it will neither take support of Congress nor BJP. How can it take support from Congress and BJP when they refuse to divulge their funding sources ? How can it take support from Congress and BJP when they refuse to come under Right to Information Act (RTI) ? How can it take support from Congress and BJP when they refuse to pass a strong Lokpal or Lokayukta ? Fundamentally, AAP is quite different from Congress and BJP.
The story that has unravelled after the elections has been unprecedented as well. The pressure that has been mounted on AAP has been unbelievable.
Typically, the single largest party is invited first to form the government. In this case, it is BJP. If history is any evidence, then with just 5 seats short of single largest majority, if it was any other state with no AAP with its transparent politics in the role, BJP would have turned all stones to ensure they formed the government at any cost. But, by entering into politics, AAP has not only becomes a serious contender but has also changed the rules of the game in a serious way. So much so that, BJP, inspite of being the single largest party decided to sit in the opposition and would not try to get the extra support by hook or crook. Thats a positive sign. Whether BJP continues to do that in other states or at national level is a guess for everyone.
Now comes the turn of AAP. What should AAP do ? AAP has already categorically told that they would never align with Congress or BJP as they stand today. This is when, lot of people, several of them with vested interests start playing the dirty game in the politics of pressure tactics. AAP is being blamed that they are shying away from real governance. AAP is being blamed that they cannot fullfil their manifesto promises and are hence nopt willing to form the government. And several such insinuations have been made on AAP.
AAP asked why cant BJP and Congress come together to form the government ? Congress says that they have serious ideological differences with BJP and hence cannot support BJP.
Question is, since when AAP and Congress are idelogically aligned ? Since when AAP and BJP are ideologically aligned ? Never unless Congress and BJP change their ways of doing politics.
Interestingly, congress goes out of its way to say that it gives unconditional support to AAP. History is the witness to the definition of unconditional support from Congress, where Congress has pulled down governments at its whims.
AAP knows that Congress and BJP are trying to play very carefully the responsible card, ahead of Lok Sabha elections and have laid a huge trap for AAP.
The strange problem infront of AAP is, if AAP refuses support, some people are saying AAP is irresponsible. If AAP takes support, same people will say AAP is the B team of Congress and were always aligned with Congress. So, in such a situation of dirty trap laying politics, what should AAP do ?
AAP has sent a letter to both Congress and BJP asking for clarification on 18 agenda items of AAP. AAP has asked them to respond on whether they will support AAP on those 18 items. Because it is very important to ensure that Congress and BJP do not indulge in betrayal politics. So what happens next ? BJP refuses to respond to the letter. Congress responds but says that it never said unconditional support. So, is the truth really coming out on the real agenda of Congress and BJP ?
In my opinion, AAP has never beeing shying away from responsibility. But being a newbie, it has to be very careful in its actions. The only support it has is people support. AAP has been bringing in new changes to the Indian politics, albeit, to the discomfort of several of those who are used to the traditional isolated politics of India where your role is limited to voting every 5 years and not at all in decision making. In fact, it will take time for people to adapt to the new style because we are not just used to this. We are not used to being asked by politicians for our feedback.
The only option infront of AAP is, to go back to people and ask them for their opinion. And just do what people say.
As of the time of writing of this blog item, AAP has just done that because it is left with no other option. It cannot deviate from it pre-poll stand. At the same time it cannot let itself be branded as irresponsible. AAP is planning to send 25 lakhs (2.5 million) letters to a sample population of Delhi households seeking their opinion. It is also using the latest technologies of seeking people opinion via SMS as well. It has been difficult for some people to digest this and they are quick enough to brand tis effor tas reality TV tactics. But, when a paradigm shift happens in any field, whether it be technology or politics, we have to be open minded enough to welcome new ideas that will eventually turn out to be better for the society and the people.
So, to the people, the question goes : what should AAP do ? What do you want AAP to do ?
2 comments:
I never liked politics in India until the AAP showed up. It the formed based on the people's need, so I started watching what is happening in politics. This Change happening in politics is good for people. I strongly believe that AAP if forms the government, It will bring openness in every single move/decisions they make.
AK is doing just the right thing by doing the referendum exercise. He was bound to face a lot of criticism (even from supporters) and taunts whatever he did after the Congress move to offer support. At least he's now armed to fend it off now whatever he does in the end.
Of course, for Cong/BJP it is much better if AAP can be kept busy and stretched in Delhi till LS 2014.. AK will probably find it difficult to fulfill his promises in Delhi too, with a minority govt and uncooperative center. More or less, only precious time will be lost if he forms govt in Delhi.. But this is not something he can tell to the people of Delhi openly.. So his hands are tied too.. Let the referendum come..
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