Where has the Halo around Kejriwal gone?

There is a message going across various social media about a dialogue of Sonakshi Sinha which has been contemporised w.r.t Kejriwal.
"Thappad se Darr nahi Lagta Sahab, Pyaar se lagta Hai!" to which Kejriwal says,"Tu Rehne de Behen,Mujhe Padi hai, mujhe pata hai! ". This sums up the events that have happened to Kejriwal over the last few days.

Kejriwal had got all the right credentials that most middle-class educated people would wow about. An IITian, he is also the winner of the prestigious Magsaysay award. He has worked for the IRS. His relentless tirade against corruption as also his association  with Anna Hazare in the Anti-Corruption Movement shot him to national prominence. His decision to form the Aam Aadmi Party was a bold one and won him many admirers particularly among the middle class as he seemed willing to get his hands dirty in the world of politics. The People of Delhi, fed up of Corruption, found a ray of hope in him and propelled his party to 28 seats in the 70 member Delhi assembly, within just a year of it being formed. The media had gone gaga over his success.Kejriwal hogged the limelight for most of 2013 and into 2014.

But through his journey he had also sown the seeds of disenchantment. In the run-up to the Delhi Elections, he had promised many things which he did not fulfil once in power.
He came to be known as Mr U-turn. Following points would buttress this point.

• He sweared on his children not to take support of the Congress or the BJP. In the end he did take support of Congress.
• He paints every other politician as corrupt and black, but when it comes to his own party members the same rules don't apply. A case in point is that of Somnath Bharti.

AAP claimed itself to be a party with a difference. People expected it to usher in new-age politics into the country. But then in their ambition to grow fast , they chose the same trodden path of appeasement politics. They chose to visit certain religious leaders in order to garner support of a particular community.

The Delhi Assembly elections success propelled it to grow faster than ever before with people from all walks of life joining in hordes. There was no filter from keeping away bad influences off the party. Everyone was free to join. So while many Corporate honchos found their calling in his movement, hundreds of others who thought this as a faster mode of rising the political ladders also joined. The result that some of those who joined and are vying for tickets in Lok Sabha elections have criminal records. All talk of cleaning up politics vanished in thin air.

AAP also misconstrued the huge support in Delhi to translate into votes at national level. Kejriwal resigned within 49 days of coming to power. His rule over Delhi was marked with what is called roadside politics. The Chief Minister himself became the Chief agitator. Many asked the question, Can good agitators not become good administrators? The public though understood the reason of his resigning lay in his national ambitions.

The recent portrayal in media of his party has not gone down well with him. He accused the media of being biased and not portraying him in good light. But that is not the job of the media. It is here to present stories and not support someone. What was he trying to do with the Aaj Tak Newscaster? He wishes to bring Kranti in this fashion!!

There are lessons to be learnt from this extraordinary saga. Some of the old adages still hold true:

• Practice before you preach.
• Don't consider the people as foolish. They will see through your nefarious designs.
• The best of supporters can become the worst of enemies if you betray the faith that they have reposed on you.

I must confess that like many others I felt that AAP would bring in a systemic change in our politics.

• The funding of elections would become more transparent. 
• Criminal elements would be pushed out of politics. 
• Development politics would replace identity based politics.

On many of these aspects, i find them to be of the same DNA as other parties.
But for the sake of India, i wish they do some introspection of their actions. Course correction is urgently required before AAP becomes just another political party in a country teeming with political parties. Clearly defining their policies  w.r.t Economy, Foreign Affairs could be the first step.

Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar

It's been a long time since i posted on my blogging site. Over the last few days, i have felt the urge of writing again.
So now i start or rather restart.
Just saw the interview of Narendra Modi by Rajat Sharma on 'Aap ki Adalat'.
Rajat Sharma appeared little generous to Modi in this interrogation, but all credits to Modi for emerging triumphant.
Modi emerging as the front runner for PMship has been due to a variety of reasons. But anyone who has seen this interview or followed him campaigning over the last few days would realise that he is taking the discourse to a different level; he is bringing in development politics when most of India has been accustomed to identity based politics at times of elections for the last many decades. Does it finally mean that India can have a genuine debate on developmental issues rather than divisive politics?
Far from it but the sands beneath are certainly shifting. Young Indians today are more concerned about jobs,roads, well being than merely identifying with people of their own castes or religion. The GDP growth is on a downward path. The present dispensation at Delhi appears incapable of handling the issues plaguing the country. Hope is what Modi is providing to the the people.
Modi has been accused of being a polarising figure. It seems his emergence as the leader has raised many a hackles both within and outside his party. Doomsday predictions are being done for muslims across the country by various political parties. Modi is being compared with Hitler. It make one wonder; are these people really secular as they project themselves to be? Election after election has seen parties trying to court the Muslims. This votebank politics whereby they instil fear among the minorities has what led to the backwardness of the Muslims. But what have the so-called secularists done for the upliftment of the minorities. Have the muslims benefited by voting such people in elections. It is time for Muslims to see through the charade presented by most political parties. Even the so-called new age politicians who claim to be fighting corruption and parading themselves as a party with a difference are following this slippery path? Can Modi with his developmental agenda improve the lot of Indians irrespective of their religion,caste,region,gender etc?
India today stands at a cross-roads today. We need someone who can provide decisive leadership at all levels. The last decade has really become our lost decade. A decade back India was mentioned in the same breath as China, but now it has merely become an after thought. Something terrible must have gone wrong to effect such changes in a small period of time. A similar trend for another few years and the term BRICS would be relegated to history, with the I missing.
The politics of 21st century has to be different from that of the preceding century. These elections are not merely about electing a government. They are about finding whether developmental politics win over identity politics. They are about hope. Can India rise again and take its rightful place in the league of nations?

Only May16th can tell. Till then we can only hope!!