The formation of an alliance in
Delhi between the party, which "professed to cleanse Indian
politics” - AAP and “the most corrupt political party atleast in India" - Congress,
is apparently based on the age old principle that “Enemy of your enemy
is your Friend”. But they, especially
AAP being a new entrant should also consider that in politics “A Friend in
need, is an Enemy indeed”. Yes, a political party extending its friendship “Only
when it needs it” is “Not a Friend & on the contrary is worse than an Enemy”.
They also should remember that a political party should not be happy, purely
based on “Promise of short term gains”, but should be more worried about “Possible
long term losses”. But Power is the ultimate ambition for most politicians and
Arvind Kejriwal has proved it once again. What an irony – he, who spoke of bringing
a culture of alternative politics has now partnered with the same adulterous
politics. AAP’s birth was by ditching Anna Hazare & his movement half way
and now AAP’s coming to power, is by ditching the very voters, who voted it for
an alternative. It’s another sad day in Indian politics when Congress is
returning to power in Delhi by the back door. Congress has carefully assessed it’s
costs and benefits in making it’s moves and is hoping that in the next couple
of months, the dice will roll it’s way - at the Lok Sabha elections due in
April-May and the Delhi assembly re-election – perhaps around the same time. People
rejected Congress believing that AAP is against Congress. Post elections, AAP
aligning with Congress, is like a big slap on the face of the people who voted for AAP. AAP cannot fool
people by saying that it is only taking outside support from Congress . Already 3
senior Congress leaders have made it clear that their party's support to AAP is
not unconditional. The fact that AAP has agreed to this changed position within
a week of demanding unconditional support shows how desperate its leaders are
for power. People of Delhi
deserve this and more for their foolishness to elect such an
opportunist. Kejriwal wanted to take full benefit of the mandate he got and all
this SMS, E-mail drama were only to fool the public. How can a man of
principle, who had declared unequivocally, that he would not give or take support
of Congress can suddenly change by this fake SMS and E-mail referendum?? We all can calculate what was the population
who exercised their votes in the last election in Delhi and how many of them
voted for AAP. Now if we match that with the nos. of SMS & E-mails, claimed
to have been received by AAP, supporting it’s alliance with Congress, we can
very well count the percentage of Delhi voters who supported this move. AAP has demonstrated in this initial stage of
its entry into politics, that it is a party without any values and ideology. By
accepting the support of the corrupt Congress, their promise to the voters of
providing corruption free governance is defeated. It has become the latest
addition to UPA – “Na samarthan leenge , Na samarthan deenge” has been
compromised. It will not be surprising if Kejriwal repeats his SMS tamasha in
March/April to proclaim support for Rahul Gandhi as PM. AAP has proved that it’s
no different from BSP, SP, NCP etc., who
criticizes the Centre's policies , but allows the Govt. to survive by giving
external support for achieving their selfish agenda. Is there any difference between
the political ambitions of Mulayam, Mayabati and Kejriwal?- none at all. All of
them shout & scream against Congress infront of their supporters and public
in general. But when it comes to forming/saving a Govt., they stand together
with Congress, giving some excuses like keeping communal forces at bay or now Kejriwal’s
new excuse that the Aam Admi wants it to form govt.
Running a government is fraught
with risk, but being an activist is not. Arvind Kejriwal
told Economic Times during an interview that “providing effective governance is no rocket
science.” Providing effective governance might not be rocket science but AAP
will need a special escape velocity to get out of opposition mode. In the end voters
elect a party to do a job and no party can expect the voters to do their job
for them even via referendum. Electoral mandate is one of pragmatism rather
than idealism, which will be a tricky balancing act for a party whose carefully
nurtured public image has always been the other way round. AAP promised so many
things in manifesto – but promising is easy and implementation is difficult. Given
the manner in which AAP had attacked all political parties, accusing them of
betraying the trust of the people, it will have to deliver on its promises
double quick once it takes over the govt. and therein lies the rub. However, if Kejriwal has bitten the bullet, it
is not without his own assessment of a cost-benefit analysis. He has about 75
days to make his moves before the Lok Sabha election code kicks in around end February/beginning
March - on Jan Lokpal, free water supplies, power tariff reduction and
regularising the unauthorised colonies. Even if he can’t achieve all his goals,
he will claim he needs a majority to make his moves and ask Delhi voters to
give him the benefit of doubt in the next election. But, it is clear that the
agenda of AAP run Govt. will be short-term in nature. Neither AAP nor Congress
can be under any illusion since this is an uneasy marriage of short-term
convenience– AAP will aim to prove that it can implement its promises in a hurry
so that it can go back to the electorate in a couple of months and say – look
we did it – and seek a better majority. This means, in the initial weeks,
it will try to legislate an anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill, mandate 700 litres
of free water supply to every Delhi household, cut power tariffs by auditing the books of
power companies and start regularising illegal colonies among other things. But
in doing so, AAP will be promising to implement exactly the kind of mind-numbing
populist schemes that the Congress is famous for – never mind what fiscal
prudence dictates. Since AAP plans to be in power for only a couple of months
in its initial run, it may end up doing things that may do long-term damage –
again similar to what the Congress party has done in its dying months at the
centre. If Congress is run like a feudal family business, AAP is like a
populist khap with no direction
beyond populism. However, that does not make it a politically responsible party
that can ever even begin to set things right. Its only mantra is its
anti-corruption stance, but between the hype and the reality, it has failed to
see the connection between theoretically wanting to reduce corruption and doing
the right things to get this done. What the people needed in India is a party
that speaks the truth and brings in honest people to govern the state with transparency
and bring in systemic change. But the freebies and concessions Kejriwal
promises to give are essentially about fooling the people. The systemic changes
on transparency have to be combined with an intelligent application of the Lokpal
law to make things work and people change. This is not something AAP has yet
thought through. Next, consider the message being sent if it starts
regularising illegal colonies – the corrupt class will see regularisation as
encouragement to build more illegal colonies. Cutting power tariffs is easier
said than done as these are set by the electricity regulatory commission and
not by the govt. Any decision of the
commission can be challenged in court, and hence there is no easy way to get
the commission to toe Kejriwal’s line. An easier route would be to simply
subsidise power and bring the rates down, but this would not only be fiscally
irresponsible, but also defeat the very point Kejriwal is making. If he says
that power companies are overcharging and then pays them subsidies, he would then be
essentially subsidising power companies that are blatantly overcharging. The
only sensible way to go about this is to set up an audit committee and then
offer this audit report to the regulatory commission and hope rates come down.
And even this process is not likely to deliver immediately – since the power
companies can always seek a court stay order. The worst promise, of course, is
the one on free water. Let’s assume
there is enough water to supply every household in Delhi with 700 free litres.
First, there is the question of who will subsidise this delivery? Next, even
assuming the subsidy can be paid for by charging more from those who use more
than 700 litres, it would mean more corruption since it calls for charging
differential water rates. It needs investment in better metering, better
collection of bills, and better policing of the water delivery system. The huge
leakages enroute would have to be plugged – both the physical leaks and the
leaks encouraged by the water mafia which would be covertly supplying “free”
municipal water to tankers. This is what happens to cheap rice supply
through the PDS and water will be even easier to divert. More important is the
moral hazard - once something is given free, it will not only be tough to roll
back, but will also be wasted. Charging even a nominal amount for water is the
right thing to do even from the poor – who anyway pay for water even in their
jhuggis.
The first responsibility of a
real leader is to discuss difficult issues with the experts, develop sensible
policy options and explain why some things have to be done to the people/voters.
Engaging voters regularly in important issues is the essence of democracy, but
asking voters regularly on what the leaders should do is like outsourcing
responsibility. If asked whether power tariffs should be cut altogether, people
will always say yes. It is very easy to tell people, they will get free water
or 50% off in power tariff. But It is tougher to convince the people why they
should pay for water or why the cuts in electricity charges have to be less
than 50% because if power companies are not reasonably profitable, no power
will be supplied. The power companies may be manipulating their books, but the
best way to deal with it is to allow competition in power supplies/distribution
and instituting regular audits. Promising to cut tariff by half without proper
audit and efficient distribution process is plain irresponsible. The signs of
AAP using power responsibly to bring a systemic change without resorting to
populism and developing genuine leadership are not at all positive.
The ultimate political winner of the
Delhi polls is Congress now. Congress’s
game plan looks all set for 2014 polls - use AAP to split the anti-Congress
votes and create unstable situation. And finally regain power by showing the
voters that except them none can provide a stable Govt. Today, the Congress
leadership must be smiling and telling themselves “Haar Kar Jitnewale Ko,
Congress Kahte Hai”. Hope, nation will understand the Congress game at least
now and Aam Admi of this nation will wake up at least before the Lok Sabha
elections. They have dug their own grave for the last 60 years by choosing
Congress or it’s proxies. If they still continue doing the same, this nation
will be done and dusted completely.
