Tuesday Teaser KEJRIWAL IN HIS TRUE COLOURS

Tuesday Teaser

KEJRIWAL IN HIS TRUE COLOURS

As the date of polling for Delhi assembly elections is drawing near, the bubble of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal seems to be getting burst.

Kejriwal rose on the shoulders of the great social and anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare. He basked in the glory of Anna's anti-corruption campaign for Lokpal. It is he and some of his cronies who are responsible for turning the massive people's movement for Lokpal ultimately flounder.  

It is Arvind Kejriwal and his friends who, initially, smelt foul if politicians jumped on the Anna bandwagon to support the movement. They thought it will pollute it. It was he who had made certain political leaders leave the stage when they came to express their solidarity with the cause. He then claimed that he wanted to keep the campaign non-political.  But soon he staged a smart about-turn.  He decided to launch a political outfit of his own. It was this decision of his which ultimately sounded the death-knell of the movement that had sparked off a spontaneous and unprecedented support for the Anna campaign for which people of their own free will thronged in support; there was no leader to exhort them to do so. Finally, many like Mrs. Kiran Bedi deserted Kejriwal's boat because they smelt political opportunism in him.

Waterloo

The Anna movement met its waterloo when Kejriwal and party announced that they will campaign against the Congress and those against the Lokpal during assembly elections in four States of UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. But, for unexplained reasons, they failed to turn up in those States. That cost the Anna movement credibility, primarily because of him.

When Kejriwal launched the party, he was highly idealist and utopian. The party will not be headed by anyone; it will be the people who will guide its destiny, he said. It would be the people who will decide its course of politics. The money for the party too will come from the people, he declared.

He belied what he stated. A political organization without a leader is like a body without a head. Contrary to his declarations, he became its convener. How did it matter and placed it at a pedestal different than other parties. Every party has its own constitution. Parties like the BJP, Congress, Janata Dal, are headed by their president. Communist parties are headed by their general secretary. For all intents and purposes "convener" who is Arvind Kejriwal himself is the head of Aam Aadmi Party whatever may be his/her designation.

AAP no different

Programmes and policies of this AAP are being framed by Arvind Kejriwal and his group. Where is the aam aadmi in it? What is the difference between the process of evolution and formation of the programmes and policies of AAP and other political parties? Every political party claims its aims and objectives are those which reflect the hopes and aspirations of the people. So what is new in AAP?

Anna Hazare was against the conversion of his movement into a political body. He snapped all his ties and connections with Kejriwal and party. He announced that he will not campaign for AAP and also advised Kejriwal not to exploit his name to further his political ambitions. Deliberately, but indirectly, he did continue to use the Anna name during his electoral campaign. That is why Anna had ultimately to address a Press conference in which he made certain allegations against Kejriwal and AAP.

Congress B team

If Kejriwal thinks that he will dethrone Congress and crown himself with the office of the chief minister, he is not a realist and is living in a fool's paradise, day-dreaming. He is equally vain if he thinks that by jumping into the electoral arena in the Delhi assembly, he is harming Congress and its chief minister Mrs. Shiela Dixit against whom he is contesting. If not hundred percent, 80 percent votes he and his AAP receive will be the anti-Congress one. Thus where Congress was going to lose by a narrow margin of a few thousand, he is going to be instrumental in their win. Then, whom is Kejriwal helping?

Transparency where?

During the Anna movement and after formation of AAP, Kejriwal had been drumming up about transparency in his party. The `19 crores he has been able to collect for his party, including donations from abroad, is beyond comprehension. No political party or individual — not even renowned author Chetan Bhagat who floated a new political party and contested Parliament elections — can make such a boast because no new party in the past had been that lucky. If he wishes to make the people believe that the money he raised is through petty donations from the common people, he is befooling none else but his own self. Nobody is going to take him at his word, not even the aaam aadmi and people of his own party. Ms Mayawati has raised huge dumps of fortune and she too claimed that it was through small donations from people and party men.

To silence his critics, Kejriwal has said that if he was so enamelled of money he would not have quit his lucrative job. But his wife, his critics point out, is still there.

If Kejriwal and his AAP are so lucky to raise those huge dumps of money in their infancy in politics, it looks the trickle of donations may turn into an incessant drizzle once it wins some seats. What will happen, good god, if ever Kejriwal's AAP was voted into power in any State!                                         ***