AAP and its.... Gimmicks?
Thankfully, unlike Dhoom 3, there’s been something in India that has thoroughly deserved the attention it has been getting in the past month – the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) forming the Delhi Government and Arvind Kejriwal becoming the 7th Chief Minister to head it.
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| Image Courtesy: speedypostal.blogspot.in |
Having broken off from Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement, Kejriwal launched the AAP in November 2012 following
differences that emerged between him and Hazare. A year later, in the party’s
electoral debut, it drubbed the Indian National Congress (INC) and won an
astounding 26 seats in Delhi’s 70 member legislature, second only to the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP’s) 31. With the BJP refusing to stake its claim, the
AAP later accepted the INC’s support and mustered the majority that was
required to form the Government. BJP,
the single largest party with the most seats was forced to sit in the
Opposition.
A week into the job and even the most insignificant news about
Kejriwal (Loose motions? Seriously?) is causing a frenzy in the media. Are his austerity
measures simply political gimmicks? How much is his populism going to hurt India's reeling economy? I find it difficult to understand that an IITian – IRS Officer
- turned activist is refusing to pay heed to the economic and environmental
impacts of providing free water and dirt cheap electricity. The MLAs who made
a big deal out of their Delhi Metro journeys now travel in Toyota Innovas. By
shifting their swearing-in ceremony to the Ram Leela Maidan, an event which
could have cost 5 lakh rupees has reportedly cost the exchequer nearly a crore.
The man who refused security cover claiming he had "God’s security", allegedly had
a separate Metro train arranged for his team. Forget gimmicks, can these be claimed as austerity measures?
I am not one of the BJP’s paid internet spammers. What I am
is a confused member of the aam aadmi – a citizen who like Ms Sonia Gandhi, doesn’t
understand what the country’s most talked about party is up to. Austerity
measures are no doubt important, but the AAP needs to move on and address more
pressing issues. And this needs to be done without its shrewd SMS - governance tactics. There is no doubt that the AAP revolution has already changed Indian
politics for the better but how well it fares until the Congress in all
probability withdraws its external support remains to be seen.
so you think sonia gandhi and the congress is better than aap?
ReplyDeleteHe has not said anything like that! All he feels is that the AAP is not what they look like!
DeleteYes, Neil is correct. I am not comparing the AAP with any other party here. All I am saying is that until the AAP gives us a clear idea of what it is up to, I will not be convinced with all the attention that is being given to it.
DeleteWell written! I am of the same view too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Neil. Glad to hear that! What according to you should the party do at this point of time?
DeleteWhat according to you are the pressing issues..?
ReplyDeleteHello Sneha, by 'pressing issues', I was referring to matters related to inflation, GDP, malnutrition, poverty, FDI, education, agriculture, jobs, our economy, the environment, India's foreign policy, Kashmir and the country's overall development.
DeleteAnti-corruption, although very important, isn't the only concern in a country of 1 billion.
People might excuse the party for being 'new' to the race but any national party that aims to contest up to 300 Lok Sabha seats within 3 months needs to have a strong stance on all these issues.
What do you feel about this?
and i thought only i could see all this whereas everyone else can just praise AAP like its brought all the change we can ever expect!..thank god for you! :D
ReplyDeleteHello Rishika! Glad to hear that we are on the same page here!
ReplyDeletePeople have now started to have doubts about the party, especially after the dharna they staged last week.
Let's hope for a few positive changes in them now :)
what I feel AAP government is trying to do right now is to get a vote bank which should not be on their agenda. People trusted them for one simple reason and that was clean politics and now that they have forgotten about the lokpal bill and removing corruption and replacing these issues with cheaper electricity and free water to create a vote bank of theirs, I don't see a difference between them and the traditional political parties.
ReplyDeleteTheir focus on strengthening their vote bank. Precisely what I feel too!
DeleteThe difference between them and the other political parties however, is that they still do not seem to have an agenda of any sort! And this is exactly why I believe that their future as a successful party may be short-lived.