Every controversial episode that embroiled Mr Kejriwal — the conflict and parting of ways with Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and others now spearheading Swaraj Abhiyan — shows that after breaking into the political system, he displayed no intention of changing the basic rules of the game and is indeed playing according to them. It didn’t need an Anna Hazare to note that in hindsight it was evident the party hadn’t conducted a proper check of those it nominated to contest elections. The number of leaders who came from outside the system and became successful can be counted on one’s fingertips.Most Indian parties have roots in the political system that evolved in the course of the national movement.Across states, most parties are rooted in this ecosystem, and their leaders mostly full-time politicians. Each such “outsider” was driven by ambition to alter the rules of the game, but after some inroads started adhering to the same norms. They gathered periodically to protest over “lost causes” in neo-liberal India. Mr Kejriwal’s regime will soon be labelled as the Congress plus BJP plus Janata Parivar Plus. Ramdas, the party’s ombudsman, was ejected underscored the distaste for internal vigilance. Much like the Communist parties, the BJP and Sangh Parivar have their origins in 20th century political thought despite pursuing ideologies and practices antithetical to the Indian National Congress.. But every move it has made, including the latest one of a pact with Jagmeet Singh Brar, shows it is no different from any other party. Arun Shourie called the Modi government the Congress plus cow.
This changed after the Emergency, when the civil society space expanded, enabling partnerships on diverse issues ranging from human rights, gender discrimination, environmental protection and anti-communal campaigns. Unfortunately, all were eventually co-opted by the system, either due to fallibility or because the system had the capacity to neutralise their romanticism. In the backdrop of the Arab Spring, the potential of intervention from outside the political system appeared immense.Due to its imperfect beginnings, China Spring forming machine Price fault lines were evident.Bolstered by the success of their joint action after Delhi’s 1984 anti-Sikh riots — when the nature of violence was investigated and relief and long-term rehab support was provided — a concerted bid was made to transform the spontaneous association into a political platform. This is true even of parties like the BJP whose ancestors weren’t a part of the freedom struggle. L. Whether it is searing political ambition, response to corruption, background of important functionaries of his party or formulating political strategy, Mr Kejriwal is a pale shadow of what he promised. In the 18 months since assuming office, however, the AAP appears to have imploded, and seems beset with problems no different from that ailing all other parties.For decades after Independence, politicians came from elitist backgrounds and middle-class professionals were largely unable to break the glass ceiling. People who had never participated in any political activity — petty traders, minor job holders and homemakers — felt the movement had the potential of extricating them from the stranglehold of a corrupt system. Arvind Kejriwal becoming Delhi’s CM showed lateral entries from outside the system were possible.For a party that had raised hopes of altering the terms of engagement, the AAP is now committed to being a replica of other parties. He used questionable methods to evaluate the public mood and passed it off as an example of the AAP’s commitment to participative decision-making.
Activists had major successes, such as the Right to Information and Right to Education being enshrined, but these groups did not have any overarching presence in the political field. Without stabilising its Delhi set-up, Mr Kejriwal, like every other over-ambitious leader, first tried to mark a presence in Bihar and later attempted to take the lead in forging a non-Congress, anti-BJP front. The fact that three ministers were forced to quit for diverse reasons suggests the party hadn’t institutionalised a system of checks and balances to ensure legislators don’t become liabilities..The AAP is making a serious bid in Punjab to emerge as a significant force. Expectations of Mr Kejriwal being truly secular have been dashed again, given his response to the denigration of the legislature by the Haryana government that allowed Jain monk Tarun Sagar to deliver a sermon to MLAs. Students and middle-class professionals saw in the movement the possibility of transformative action. Anna Hazare’s decision not to play ball had little impact on the future of a movement that morphed into a political party. Thus, several were inducted by bosses and became “national” leaders by taking the Rajya Sabha route.
Within weeks in 2013-14, the Somnath Bharati and Rakhi Birla incidents showed that the party hadn’t adequately politicised those who had overnight become legislators. Among these “outsiders” who left a mark are N. The many descendants of the Lohia school of political thought have roots in the Congress Socialist Party, and regional parties in Tamil Nadu emerged out of the Self-Respect Movement. He got a second chance in the electoral battle because of several self-goals by the BJP; and this resulted in the unprecedented mandate of February 2015. In the long run, he may still emerge as an alternative to Narendra Modi but his model will not be much different.. Members of the intelligentsia could enter only by genuflecting before the established leadership or when leaders considered their intellect worthy of use.T. In his first stint as CM, Mr Kejriwal avoided taking responsibility for his actions and passed the buck. The shabby way in which Adm. Rama Rao, Bal Thackeray and Kanshi Ram.The writer is the author of Narendra Modi: The Man, the Times and Sikhs: The Untold Agony of 1984. As civil society still didn’t have the experience of activism, and as divergences outweighed synergies, the efforts to intervene politically failed and professionals who united for a common “apolitical” cause went back to their routine.Thus, appointing a disproportionately large number of MLAs as parliamentary secretaries was justified by citing cases of other parties handing out similar doles to legislators.
Those unwilling to align with any party had no opportunity to join forces and pose an alternative. Those who remained were either confirmed jholawallahs, “NGO types” or new recruits. In its formative period, the AAP had vowed to adhere to financial transparency, internal democracy and internal vigilance of leaders, legislators and office-bearers.The 2011 anti-corruption agitation ignited several hopes among incensed urbanites dwelling on the fringes. Despite the Baba Ramdev-led effort to channelise the anti-corruption movement into support for the BJP, the middle-class leaders overcame self-doubts, political divergences and reservations about each other to establish the Aam Aadmi Party.