The rise of Arvind Kejriwal is an interesting development in the current
Indian social and political scene. But when we analyse his journey from the
time of his leaving a Govt. job to a social activist to forming Aam Aadmi Party
to the chair of the Chief Minister of Delhi (and also leaving it) to his foray
into the next Lok Sabha election – we find that for all his purist rhetoric,
idealist posture and talks of brining systemic change to Indian politics and
governance, ironically in many ways, he exactly mirrors the qualities he
criticises in his opponents. Arvind Kejriwal is a clever strategist and
an ambitious & opportunist politician, who is ready to do anything to stay
in the news for free publicity and increase his appeal nationwide. That is how he had built one of the most
highly visibility movement in recent Indian history and used it for fulfilling
his own political ambition. For all his talks of extreme transparencies,
virtuous processes and absolute truths, he can be very economical with truth
himself. Also team work and consensus building is clearly not his forte. This is what has made him destroy the movement
he had built and also the opportunity to usher in a new era of a truly
“Aam Aadmi Govt.” in Delhi and making an
impact on the quality of politics in the country.
Let’s first check how he left govt.
service. While serving as a Joint Commissioner in the Income Tax dept. under the Ministry of Finance, he went on a
paid leave for some study from 1st Nov’ 2000 to 31st
Oct’2002. The condition for such leave was that the employee (Kejriwal) must
serve continuously for at least 3 years after his return, failing which he must
pay back the salary he drew over two years with penalty. He executed a bond to this effect, with
witnesses and guarantors. Kejriwal re-joined duty on 1st Nov’2002
but almost immediately again went on 18 months leave without pay and did not
serve continuously. He resigned in February 2006. As he had jumped bond, his resignation was not
accepted. The Income Tax Dept. sent him
a notice in 2007 and again in 2008 asking him to pay up his salary that he drew
during his leave under the bond. But Kejriwal, who was by then became a social
activist, expected the govt. to relax the above clause and refused to pay up.
He wanted the govt. to waive off his dues and deduct from his retirement
benefits. After sending several notice finally the Govt. sent him an ultimatum to
pay up before 27th Oct’2011, failing which he would not be relieved from
his job and he would not get his retirement benefits. And that attachment of
his property and criminal action could also follow. Mr. Kejriwal termed it an
attempt to create obstacles to his agitation against corruption. When he did
not respond by 27th Oct, the dept. asked his guarantors to pay. Mr.
Kejriwal pleaded that his friends should not be disturbed. When it became clear
that the govt. would initiate proceedings, he announced on 30th Oct’
2011 that he would borrow from his friends and pay the dues of Rs.9.28 lakh. He
wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on 3rd Nov’2011 enclosing the
cheque. This is how the activist Arvind Kejriwal was born.
Even as he was serving in the
Income Tax Department, he gathered a group of like-minded people and started the
NGO called “Parivartan” in Delhi. Through this NGO, his group tried to curb graft by helping people
navigate the hurdles of Income Tax, Electricity and food ration matters etc. In
2001, the Delhi RTI Act was implemented. This gave Arvind a readymade issue and
so he quickly shifted his focus from corruption to RTI to set things right in
MCD and other civic bodies. As the
organisation grew, Kejriwal became its sole face and unilateral
authority, while other members felt ignored and left out. As Kejriwal expanded
his reach in other networks like the NCPRI, funding became an issue. Parivartan
was still a campaign and not a registered NGO or trust that could apply for
funds or grants. This is when he told the group that he already had an NGO
registered by the name “Kabir” and it just needed to be activated and they can
get funds. In Parivartan, the
rule was that nobody would earn a salary more than Rs 15,000 a month. There
were people who left the organisation after Kejriwal refused to give them a
salary hike even though he was reportedly taking fellowships from some
institutions, including the Centre for Equity Studies. This rule was never
followed in his case, his associates say. This is when some of the old timers
decided to leave Parivartan. Post Kabir, it became messy and objectives of the
campaign seemed to have taken a back seat. The not so credible organization, Ford
Foundation has since been a generous contributor of funds to Kabir, giving it
nearly $569,000 between 2006 and 2011. But a request for audit of the funds of
Kabir by his associates was turned down by Kejriwal and he was always secretive
about the income and expenditure of the organization. Working in tandem with
activists of the NCPRI, Kejriwal became a regular at World Bank and UN events
and contrary to the norms of the organization, he would not consult the team
before going for any such meetings. Also, with his strong media management
skills, he suddenly became RTI's face in Delhi. He approached Indu Jain,
proprietor of the Times of India and became a partner in a one-year-long
campaign on RTI. A RTI Manch was established in Delhi and
Kejriwal wanted to take all the credit for its work. Around that time he got in
touch with other activists, including Sandeep Pandey, who recommended him for a
Magsaysay Award. His associates say that “Kejriwal did not work as much for the
nationwide RTI Act as people believe. There was more hype than anything of
substance. There were huge differences, with good people distancing themselves”.
After Magsaysay, he was least interested in works of the NGO and rarely came to
office. He then started hobnobbing for his friends and associates to get them
plum postings in the newly set up Central Information Commission (CIC) in
Delhi. He proposed Manish Sisodia's name for the post of independent
commissioner in the CIC through backdoor channels but this did not materialise,
as Sisodia lacked the experience. He also pitched for Shailesh Gandhi, who was
later appointed. However, Kejriwal developed differences with Gandhi on many
issues. With the Magsaysay money, he started a trust, Public Cause Research Foundation
(PCRF). It was this trust which organised RTI awards in five star hotels with
corporate funding, involving media groups like NDTV and Dainik Jagran, with
active support of film stars like Aamir Khan. This was shocking for many
veterans, including the late editor of Jansatta, Prabhash Joshi, who said that
if one starts taking money from corporates, it would defeat the whole purpose
of RTI. Meanwhile, Kejriwal refused to part with information on an application by
a Delhi based RTI activist, seeking details of funding and expenditure on RTI
awards. It was, if not legal, a moral question, for all those who talk of RTI
petitions. Kabir and PCRF gave ambiguous details. By now, as is the pattern,
his interest in RTI diminished. As per his old associates, his group started
saying that there's nothing left in RTI and this is why, when CBI was taken out
of the ambit of RTI, Kejriwal did not protest. This dogmatic, obsessive,
media-savvy campaigner has a history of taking up one issue after another and
dumping them as easily. The irony is, he never takes them to a logical
conclusion. He opportunistically uses forces which can be fascist or corporate,
but he does not care. Kejriwal has no principles, no ideological scaffolding,
no clear moral vision. He can align with anybody and he cares two hoots. He
attracts good people, but when they don't fit in his scheme of things, they are
dumped. He constantly wants media attention and is impatient, authoritarian, obstinate
and tolerates no dissent. He wants things done only his myopic way – he
basically hates democratic opinion, dissent and norms of democracy. At Ramlila
Ground it was a common refrain that one can't meet Anna Hazare without
Kejriwal's yes. The other joke was, Anna
can't break his fast without Kejriwal's yes.
By now, after a decade of activism had made Arvind Kejriwal
more ambitious for larger issues and bigger glory. The Year 2010-11 was the
year of scam in India – the CWG scam, the 2G scam and the Adarsh Housing scam etc.
came into public domain. The common people of the country, who were already
reeling under price rise, rampant corruption and a downward curve of economy
reducing opportunity for livelihood – were showing signs of pent-up anger
towards the system. This was the Rang De Basanti moment Kejriwal was waiting for. He, however,
recognised that to launch a large scale agitation against corruption he would
need many things - symbols, glue, amplifiers. Arvind went to people he knew
could mobilise huge masses. This is when he approached Anna Hazare - aware of
the fact that, he would resonate for middle-class Indians as a sort of modern day
Gandhi. Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, founder
of Art of Living Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Ex Police Commissioner Kiran Bedi,
Justice Santosh Hegre, Medha Patkar, RTI
activist S C Agrawal and many such personalities with clean track record of
fighting against some form of injustice and with some followers – all came
together on a single platform, what has then become famous as India Against
Corruption (IAC) to persuade/pressurise
the government to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill.
From day one, Arvind Kejriwal
was a man in a hurry and the IAC movement was ratcheted up in promises,
expectation and assault. Social movements can’t be run like that - they take
time and unfold slowly. If someone has to overturn old, set systems, he must
have patience and the moral muscle to fight a long battle. But as Kejriwal had
built his movement on short-term goals and expectations, it was almost
inevitable that it would falter soon. Many, like Medha Patkar, had also pointed
out that the success of social movements cannot be measured through short-term
goals like the ones IAC set for itself - “give us the Lokpal Bill of our choice
in the next 10 days or else…”. But Kejriwal’s failure and success are
inextricably bound. Having tuned himself so loud, he was unable to back down.
He couldn’t seem to accept that no Bill would get passed without building either
some degree of political consensus or much larger people’s participation to put
pressure on the political class. He couldn’t seem to see that in August last
year and an opportunity to leverage what
he had already won, had been lost. Kejriwal
was able to garner public support and hope on his movement like never before in
recent history. He was also able to
corner the Govt, Political class and bureaucracy in acknowledging the people’s
power and wish for a change in political and governance culture. Yet, he seemed
to be incapable of doing the right thing at the right time in the right way. By
insisting on his too ideologist and selfish positions and promises, he
decimated the entire movement. It’s a loss for all nationalistic Indians who
believed in this movement to rid this nation of corruption, mis governance and
a mediaeval political system.
Kejriwal’s sudden decision to float a political party resulted in the decimation
of the social movement that Anna Hazare started under India Against Corruption
(IAC) umbrella. According to Kejriwal, that
movement out lived its utility and achieved the dual purpose of exposing the
government’s injustice in the eyes of the public and also prepared the public
for the next stage of the battle. But was this next stage pre decided by him
when he joined the movement and that his ultimate aim was to jump into active
politics and take a shot at power? But he denies that and claims that the
decision to turn the movement into a political party was spurred by popular
demand. But a number of IAC core committee members say that the idea of going
political was seriously discussed at a meeting on 22 April’2013, a good three
months before Kejriwal’s announcement and that several of them opposed it. Justice Santosh Hegde, another key Team Anna
member, also admitted that he was against starting a party and was not
consulted about the decision. He said “I cannot tell you how much I regret the
disbanding of this movement. The Lokpal Bill that was under consideration in
Parliament was not everything we wanted, but it was 70 percent there. We could
have accepted it and slowly built pressure to amend it bit by bit. But I think
some psephologist told Kejriwal that there is an Anna wave in the air, so you
can win if you float a political party”.
After the Delhi assembly
election which resulted in a fractured mandate with no party getting a simple
majority to form the Govt., an impression was created by a section of the media
and pseudo secular intellectuals that the Aam Aadmi Party enjoyed the support
of 2.2 crore Delhiites. But It got only 29 per cent of the votes, which means
71 per cent of voters rejected it. Hence, 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, was apparently based
on the age old principle that “Enemy of your enemy is your Friend”. 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 then AAP’s
coming to power, was by ditching the very voters, who voted it for an
alternative. 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 could suddenly change by this fake SMS and E-mail
referendum? Kejriwal has demonstrated in this initial stage of his
entry into politics, that he is a politician without any value and ideology. By
accepting the support of the corrupt Congress, his promise to the voters of providing
corruption free governance was defeated. 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 as Kejriwal’s
new excuse that the Aam Aadmi wanted it to form govt. Electoral mandate is one of pragmatism rather
than idealism, which proved to be a tricky balancing act for Kejriwal, whose carefully nurtured public image has
always been the other way round. He promised so many things in manifesto – but
promising is easy and implementation is difficult. Given the manner in which he
and his party had attacked all political parties, accusing them of betraying
the trust of the people, he was expected to deliver on his promises double
quick once he took over the govt. However, if Kejriwal had bitten the bullet,
it was not without his own assessment of a cost-benefit analysis. He had about
75 days to make his moves before the Lok Sabha election code kicks in around
end beginning March. Therefore, it was
clear from the beginning that AAP
would aim to implement its promises in a hurry so that it could go back to the
electorate in a couple of months and say – look we did it – and seek a better
majority. So it enacted the drama of 50% cut on electricity tariff, 700 litres per
day water to families with water meter, started regularising the illegal
colonies and above all tried to legislate an anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill in
an unconstitutional manner. But in doing so, AAP promised to implement exactly
the kind of mind-numbing populist schemes that the Congress is famous for –
never mind what fiscal prudence dictates. If Congress is run like a feudal family
business, AAP is like a populist khap
with no direction beyond populism. So on the 14th of February’2014,
the nation witnessed for the first time in the history of India, the irresponsible,
shameless and brazen act by an Indian Chief Minister of himself making his own
Govt. collapse. Knowing very well that
he was not capable of keeping his commitments and taking the wild allegations
he made against all and sundry to their logical conclusions, Arvind Kejriwal
was in the lookout for an escape route to run away from responsibilities. If he
would have wanted to change the system, he needed guts to fight. He had a
chance as Chief Minister to usher in a new era of a truly “Aam Aadmi Govt.” and
improve the life of millions of Aam Aadmi of Delhi. However he was more
interested in “Lok Sabha” than in “Lok Pal”. Finding that Governance is an
altogether different cup of tea, Kejriwal had brilliantly orchestrated his own
downfall, crying wolf and playing the role of a victim, hoping to win sympathy
that will propel him to the upcoming Lok Sabha and positions of power. But he
has left a feeling in the common people that only stability brings growth &
riches. Activists come with personal ambition & agenda, to establish themselves
at the cost of common men’s interest. They waste precious taxpayer's money,
stop critical growth and leave common men in the lurch. What Kejriwal and AAP are
doing is manipulating the emotions of common man to gain political mileage and
has no progressive plan for the nation. Therefore,
he has to invent a new fight or a new crisis or a new controversy every day to
stay relevant in the minds of Indian voters. His ultimate aim was and is to win 40 odd
seats in the next Lok Sabha election and then either become a king maker or the
king himself. Thus he was never interested in providing long term good
governance in Delhi with hard work, sincerity and perseverance by fighting the
system and brings about systemic change logically, legally and gradually. Hence, he used Delhi for his martyrdom, so that
he can take birth again as a national leader and the only messiah for the
common man of this country by showing dreams to the gullible “Aam Aadmi”.
Kejriwal has morphed from
“Crusader against Corruption” to a “Political Compromiser”. His opportunistic
streak now stands stretched to national political ambitions in a misplaced
reading of the initial euphoria created by his promises of a corruption free,
just and equitable governing system under an all-encompassing Jan Lokpal. But his
and his kitchen cabinet’s arrogance has reached such sky high that they are
unable to realize that AAP is a sinking ship now and one by one all independent
& right thinking people including founding members are deserting it. He is arrogant enough to call everyone
corrupt, likes to make slanderous charges against rival politicians, is always
eager for a street fight and a mild provocation away from another dharna. But the
line between a revolutionary and an anarchist is thin. Kejriwal’s overdoes act
of this activist politics of mobocracy and anarchism has reduced him to an
irritant and he is no longer a symbol of hope and aspiration of Aam Aadmi of this nation. Building a
people’s movements is a difficult job. But building a truly people oriented, democratic,
honest and transparent political party is even more difficult job. It’s high
time, he realizes that when one is
shaping the future of a nation and it’s 120 cr people, honesty, patience and a selfless
vision is what, required of a people’s revolutionary. In
that sense, Kejriwal is not really different from the run-of-the-mill
politicians. He too, does not practice what he preaches. Or is there one vital difference?
That while other politicians are merely
hypocritical and cynical, Kejriwal, in addition to these traits, also has
immense disdain for the Aam Aadmi?
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