The BJP, which formed a national government knowing full well that there was no chance of survival beyond a few days in 1996, today takes a highly moral stand in Delhi. It says it doesn't want to form a government because it doesn't have the numbers although it is the single largest party with a legitimate right to stake its claim.
Under normal circumstances, it should have formed the government and managed the numbers later. No party in India had ever been so "principled" after the elections.
Why such an unprecedented change? After all, political parties contest elections to grab and retain power.
Because Aam Admi Party (AAP) has done so - it doesn't want to form the government without the numbers and doesn't want to ask for help from others. It wants to live and die by its pre-poll promise. It has demonstrated that principle and probity can give incredible returns on investment in politics. And at the moment for the BJP, the only wise thing to do is to copy the deeds of AAP that seem to be working.
AFP
It's not the BJP that is trying to imitate AAP, but Rahul Gandhi too. In fact, he was the first copycat to announce to the media that he has learned a lot from the AAP's performance in Delhi. He even vowed to learn from AAP more and "better it in a way you cannot imagine".
So, both the behemoths - the BJP and the Congress - want to imitate and learn from a nine-month old party that both had brutally ignored earlier. One of them even called it a "chillar party" while the other asked: "AAP who?" Today, it's such a spectacle that both of them want to learn from the new kid on the block.
As the old saying goes, "imitation is the best form of flattery" and AAP should be gratified. Should it worry about the BJP and Congress stealing some wind out of its sail by copying its ideas and deeds? Will the copycats drown it by doing an Android on Apple?
No, because both the big parties have the burden of history - years of its being and doing the textbook style. If they need to change it, they will have to be reborn with the DNAs on purpose, power, subterfuge and money completely re-engineered. What they can do at best, is to copy and tinker with their appearance. Not even a bone marrow transplant will work.
It wont't work because it will militate against its own character. With a high-command structure that is fundamentally against the idea of decentralised governance and bottom-up political formation, how can Rahul Gandhi ever think that he will do an Arvind Kejriwal? If he even attempts a Kejriwal-style selection of candidates, there will be riots in the state units of his party. As usual, he is just talking his head off.
And the BJP? How long can it sustain the farce of non-interest in power because it's a few seats shorter when it's dying to go back to Yeddyurappa?
So BJP and Congress, forget it! The AAP model is not for you. If offers you no ideas for redemption.
However, it does promise the possibility of small localised alternatives.
Does that mean it will it transform the political process of India as the euphoric commentators in the national media predict?
Unfortunately not, because AAP is a unique Delhi phenomenon which has a context that is specific to Delhi - the anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare and the uprising against the Delhi gang-rape. In addition, it 's also the capital of the derelict UPA government. And most importantly, it had a tireless, strategic and committed leadership comprising Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia and of late, a socio-politically savvy Yogendra Yadav - a total A-list!
As the national interest shows, AAP is indeed a template that inspires the progressive political minds and captures public imagination in India. It will certainly appeal to large sections of Indians. But to copy the template and adapt to the local situations - even in urban centres - is an uphill task for a number of reasons: one, it has to be spontaneous; two, the leadership has to emerge and evolve organically; and three, it should have the right ecosystem that can justify and nurture the movement.
Now that the Delhi AAP experiment has worked big time, the political parties at the state level will be extremely wary and they will ensure that such a space for an AAP kind of movement is curtailed. In the highly polarised and vicious political situations in the states, the biggest threat to such movements will be violence, and abuse by government machinery.
Can one imagine an AAP-type movement in Bihar or Madhya Pradesh, which had recorded 32 and 28 political murders respectively in 2012 (NCRB data)? Or in West Bengal, where roughly 26 per cent of the violent crimes the previous year were political?
In fact, there have been several AAP-type local movements in different parts of India - founded on welfare of people, transparency and participatory processes - that took on the political mafia of goons, caste-lords and feudal order, but were quelled by the murderous violence. In India, the biggest threat to any independent political movement that threatens the turf of established parties is violence because there is so much at stake.
AAP got away because it was in Delhi. Perhaps it might work in a few more cities with considerable media glare.
Now that it has made a historical mark, will the AAP be able to scale up across India on its own?
Unfortunately, this again is highly unlikely although the party claims to have established the organisational base in many states all the way up to the districts, because the states are dominated by regional outfits. More over, in almost all states, local politics is driven by caste.
But, this is not to rule out a homegrown alternatives that mirror the AAP- character. In fact, the AAP should provide methodological and logistical support to such movements and even provide national cover so that they are less susceptible to violence and other forms of intimidation.
Can AAP lead a movement that can edge out the Left parties from the progressive, liberal space?
Probably yes. With the Left parties abandoning their commitment to class struggle and getting drowned in petty bourgeoisie politics underwritten by corporates, other moneybags and thugs, the AAP and its offshoots should aim to occupy this space. India has lost its Left and the AAP can reclaim and redefine this space.
AAP is an idea, a possibility. Will it work in the states?
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