|
|
|
|
|
Politics Arvind Kejriwal has donned the role of a political crusader as he talks of a new India. Can his party pass muster and translate slogans into votes in the 2013 test, when Delhi goes to the polls? By Vibha Sharma Steadfast determination is a virtue that the newest politician on the block, Arvind Kejriwal, has in abundance. But is it good enough to see him through “the cesspool” of politics, as Anna Hazare sees it?
j&k |
|
|
|
|
Aam admi takes to politics Arvind Kejriwal has donned the role of a political crusader as he talks of a new India. Can his party pass muster and translate slogans into votes in the 2013 test, when Delhi goes to the polls? By Vibha Sharma
Steadfast determination is a virtue that the newest politician on the block, Arvind Kejriwal, has in abundance. But is it good enough to see him through “the cesspool” of politics, as Anna Hazare sees it? The first reality check for Kejriwal and his yet-to-be-named party will be in 2013 when Delhi goes to the polls. It will become clear if talking points at rallies like participatory democracy and corruption-free system — which politicians pooh-pooh as romantic ideas — can be translated into real votes and electoral gains. Team Kejriwal (an interim name) is brimming with optimism. “If we are able to show results in Delhi, there is hope for the rest of the country,” he says. The 2013 test will be followed by the big one, the 2014 general election. With no organisational set-up or political paraphernalia, time is a challenge for Kejriwal. Sitting cross-legged on a plastic chair at the head of a crowded table, he tells two youths who want time to put their act together, “Time hi toh nahin hai (There is no time)”. Interacting with a stream of visitors that flows into his office in Kaushambi, the smile never leaves his face. A clever communicator, he appears to have a clear picture of what he wants and exudes confidence. “Elections and movements are based on a wave. A sentiment has been created. We are on the verge of a historic moment and there is no reason why people would not want to be a part of it,” he says. The challenge ahead Not many people agree with him. Forget party manifestos or lofty ideas of “power with people”, elections in India are fought on the basis of caste and creed. Congress and BJP leaders have welcomed his foray into their exalted world. In private, they dismiss it as a futile exercise even though they apprehend that he may eat into some urban votes. “He may be able to make some dent in urban areas, but it will only be to harm, not win. A majority of people will not waste their vote on a losing candidate. But for some idealistic people, the idea may work. Kejriwal can’t replicate a JP-type situation. Jaiprakash Narain was a great leader, who also had the backing of politicians,” a senior Congress leader says. Psephologist Yogendra Yadav, who is a member of the new political formation, admits there are challenges. “It is a challenge to translate anti-corruption campaign into votes for an alternative party. Also, Anna is not seen to be with the party. But there is a real possibility of a breakthrough. The movement was stronger in urban areas, but now several grass-roots activists and ‘adivasi’ groups are joining us,” he says. As the group struggles to cobble up organisational set-ups at village and district levels, with the help of technological blitzkrieg, Kejriwal says: “The Northeast and West Bengal are weak. In south, all states are weak. J&K is also weak. UP has our best presence, but we are confident of putting everything in place by 2014. I am sure the common, unhappy man will pitch in.” So, can Kejriwal survive the democratic system? For Yadav, Kejriwal is a man with enormous energy, courage and integrity and there is no reason why he will not find success. “I see no reason why these qualities cannot survive the Indian politics. Success can have different meanings. Electoral success is not just about votes, it is also about the capacity to shift the agenda of politics, alter rules and bring idealistic youth into politics,” he says. New-age politician Dressed in loose trousers and oversized shirts, Kejriwal hardly fits the image of a conventional politician. He comes across as a simple, but stubborn man, with no material desire. His wife, who works in the income tax department, keeps a low profile. Kaushambi is a nondescript building on a small plot in Ghaziabad (UP) that served as the office of the Public Cause Research Foundation, the NGO Kejriwal founded. It functions as his party office now. Among the visitors are the young and old. Kejriwal listens to them with rapt attention and offers or seeks advice. His strategy is to target the youth. Ask why he has joined politics when he had labelled all politicians dacoits and thieves, he says: “I have taken up the challenge that the politicians thrust on me. The way the Lokpal journey panned out, it forced me to think of a way out. With the country up for sale with 2G, coal, FDI, the challenge is real. In normal circumstances, I would not have taken this course.” A megalomaniac? Even though the former IT officer sounds like a reluctant politician, his detractors claim that politics was always on his mind. Some call him a megalomaniac while the others see in him shades of an autocrat. Kejriwal can articulate his views well, but has not proved to be a successful negotiator. Detractors feel he does not know when to strike or draw the line. Kejriwal comes across as a hardliner with a rigid attitude and a massive ego. More recently, he has acquired the tag of being inaccessible. Journalists, who till last year had easy access to him, are now vetted by a coterie. This, his detractors say, is a strategy to build the image of the man. “He is the Sonia Gandhi of his set-up,” they jest. A former aide, who has now parted ways, feels that Kejriwal has already acquired the traits of a typical politician, changing tack to suit the circumstances. Hours after he said no to politics on national TV channels, he did a turnaround. “Why does he not admit that it was he, and not Anna, who wanted it this way. He may have great organisational skills, but he also follows this use-and-throw policy. Why has he sidelined the people who started with him in favour of a new group?” he asks. Members of the original team recall a change in Kejriwal’s attitude soon after the success of Anna’s first rally at Jantar Mantar in 2011. The success of the August dharna at the Ramlila grounds saw him building a parallel team. The group believed that they could create a Tahrir Square in India with a snap of their fingers. The success was followed by a failure in Mumbai and factions started emerging. But Kejriwal had ensured “individual space” and went in for a show of strength with his newfound friends at Jantar Mantar this year. Kejriwal lost Anna’s support, but emerged as the new centre of the group. It is not just his meteoric rise that left many wondering whether Anna was used by him, his funding has also came under the scanner. Political sources say Kejriwal gets significant support and funds from corporate houses and foreign agencies. They claim that Kabir, an NGO run by Kejriwal, has received significant amounts from the Ford Foundation in the past three years, a charge that their associates staunchly refute. Outgrowing mentor There are reasons to believe that things went wrong with the Anna group due to a clash of personalities and egos. Kejriwal has a unique ability to outgrow not only equals, but also mentors. The Lokpal movement started with the coming together of “equals”. Magsasay Award winner Kejriwal, who was known for his work with Aruna Roy, his mentor in the RTI movement, was a relatively lesser-known person in the group. A year-and-a-half later, Prashant Bhushan is the only person from the original founder members who is still with him. Kejriwal also had a bitter parting with Aruna Roy. “It is for people to tell why they left. It is a dynamic journey if 15 people leave, 15 others will join. It is unfortunate that some people have left. They were all important people,” he says. “Why are we discussing the past? Let us talk of the future. I wanted to enter politics because there was no option left. I have much respect for Anna and I do not want to drag him in any controversy,” he adds. The vision To be fair, the man seems to be connecting with the urban middle class, hitting on the nerve — the privileges enjoyed by politicians. He is promising a Utopian world. If Team Kejriwal is voted to power, there will be no official cars with beacons for leaders and no gun-toting security or fancy bungalows either. The common man will have a say on all issues, right from choosing their MP/MLA to the Budget. “Gram sabhas” (not panchayats as Kejriwal says they are mostly corrupt) and “mohalla sabhas” will decide how and where the public money will be spent. “There would be certain non-negotiables like the Constitution, security, secularism and territorial issues, but people will have a say in issues affecting them directly like the prices of fuel. The actual cost of petrol, with all expenses paid to the company, is Rs 43 and that of diesel Rs 33. People of a particular city will decide if they want a Walmart,” he says. Exposé card To take on Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, is not an easy task. When allegations against his newfound realty business interests first became public last year, no political party, including the BJP, used it to target the Congress. That Kejriwal had the guts to do it can mean two things — either he is a blackmailer, as suggested by Congress leaders, or he himself is “clean”. Team Kejriwal intends making more exposés against politically connected influential people in the days to come. Not a rosy path Though it is easy to form a political party, it is difficult to sustain it. After the Emergency, actor Dev Anand decided to “teach politicians a lesson” by launching the National Party of India, but it failed miserably. Baba Jai Gurudev, with millions of followers, formed the Doordarshi Party, but had to withdraw from politics. Kejriwal should be prepared to face uncomfortable questions about funding, resources and other issues he has been directing at politicians. While joining politics is better than the rhetoric “all politicians are bad”, he should be ready to face the music.
Contradictions
|
|
j&k
When elections to panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir were held last year, the issue of security of the participants as well as the electorate did not pose as much of a problem as the elected members’ safety is causing today. Though panchayat elections were held in 2000 too, last year’s polls on non-party basis were regarded as the “most successful” democratic exercise undertaken at the grassroots level by the National Conference. The coalition government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is now confronted with the situation arising out of three panchayat members’ killing by militants this year, including two last month. The killings, followed by several panchayat members’ resignations amid threats from militants, prompted the government to hold a meeting of the Combined Unified Headquarters in Srinagar on October 1. Omar on the defensive Caught on the wrong foot, Omar Abdullah has tried to allay the general impression of the panchayati system breaking down. “An impression is going out that all panchayat members are resigning,” Omar said, adding that only 50 persons had tendered resignations since last year; and those too had not been accepted. He pointed there had been attempts to delay the panchayat elections too, and now attempts were being made by separatists and the Hurriyat to derail the process. Omar said militants were responsible for the attacks on elected panchayat members, though they had not opposied the polls. 73rd Amendment The Congress has been demanding implementation of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution to empower the panchayats in the state, but the state government says it cannot be incorporated because of legal issues over the special status of the state under Article 370. However, Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar, assured the State Legislative Council on Wednesday all provisions of the amendment are being implemented in the state. Politics at play After the recent killing of two panchayat members, the issue has also taken a political turn, with the government hinting at the role of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Sagar told the State Legislative Council that the two members killed last month were National Conference (NC) supporters, adding that it might benefit a certain (political) party. The two coalition partners, NC and the Congress, have since last year had divergent views on the empowerment of panchayats, and the government is hard put trying to find a way out without causing harm to the ‘coalition dharma’. At the end of the elections last year, all three major political parties had claimed the majority of the winners belonged to them. Omar Abdullah said NC cadres had the highest number of elected panchayat members, followed by the Congress and the PDP. While the government has claimed that the two members killed last month were NC supporters — despite the elections having been held on non-party basis — the fact is there have indeed been killings of political workers at the grassroots level, mainly of the NC, in Kashmir since the eruption of militancy. “These are not attacks on panchayat members, but on political parties, in the latest instance the NC,” said a political observer. A number of activists belonging to different parties, including the NC, which has the largest number of cadres in Kashmir, have been killed at the hands of militants. Acceptable polls Elections at any level — panchayat, local body, Assembly or the Lok Sabha — are regarded by separatists as a “ploy to mislead the international community” by showing that the people of trouble-torn Jammu and Kashmir had faith in the mainstream political process. While the hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani has been issuing election boycott calls to thwart any democratic process, several elections, including the panchayat polls, held between April and June 2011, saw over 80 per cent participation. There was not much resistance to these elections as certain sections of separatists said they saw the polls, including to the Assembly, as a grassroots level process meant for providing basic facilities such power, water and roads to the people. This had nothing to do with the larger issue of Kashmir, the separatists claimed. Power without money Even as the state is yet to get used to the idea of Panchyati Raj, the panchayats exist in the absence of block development councils, which hampers the implementation of projects. As many as 14 departments currently come under the purview of panchayats, but the lack of funds to execute various works is blocking full implementation of the system. A number of works such as the development of village roads have been taken up by panchayats. “These are being undertaken with the help of the MGNREGA,” said Shafiq A Mir, convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference. AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s assurance to a conference of panchayat members in Srinagar on Friday that their problems would be taken up with the state and Central governments raised hope. Block Development Council elections are also scheduled for November 7.
POLL TOLL
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
