If nothing else, I support Kejriwal for the sheer
condescension that he has been treated with in national media for more than a
year now. I don't need anything to prove my point, one can just read
headlines related to anything their party has done over the past 6 months and
the point will clarify itself.
Everywhere that his party tried to expand its reach, there was violence. Media houses ran headlines as if locals were beating AAP workers out of their territory like one would drive pests out of his/her house. 'Maar ke bhagaya AAP waalon ko' was something I heard so often during elections. Surely, biased reporting did pay off in shaping people's opinions. After all, who wants to elect a party that consists of men and women who were beaten and chased away like dogs? The Congress even went to the extent of getting people wearing AAP caps
pleading to Priyanka Gandhi in Amethi. Just to humiliate AAP.
There was so much ridicule AAP faced over having won just 4 seats in this Lok Sabha. What we don't see is, that this is just the first time this party has stood in general elections and this record is phenomenal considering BJP's performance when it was in the same stage- they won just 2 seats in the 1984 general elections. There is just one thing that comes to mind for the reaction to the criticism Kekriwal is facing after results- mindlessly dismissive.
Let's bear this in mind: India voted Modi in for the same
reason that Delhi voted Kejriwal in. Both promised earth-shattering changes.
While Modi is a seasoned politician and may actually pull off 20% of what his
manifesto says, Kejriwal being the political greenhorn he is, made political
blunder after blunder to reach the state he is in. We would have been content
had he been able to grab the state machinery by the scruff of its neck and make
it subservient to him- heck, we would have hailed it as normal bureaucratic
routine. Instead, we have chosen to ridicule every single thing that the man
has done. Be it to choose a government residence after much persuasion, be it
to choose his own vehicle to travel to work rather than a grand motorcade, to use
social media to broadcast his day to day activities or anything else.
The problem is that we don’t need representatives. We need
administrators. Administrators are nothing but people who we are willing to be
governed under. We need authorities, but those who will be benevolent too. In the process
they may make their own pie sweeter, and we are okay with it till the time our
own existence is soured. This is why people like Laloo Prasad, Mulayam Singh, Karunanidhi
are scoffed at so unanimously. This is also why people were hitherto ready to accept a Congress rule
till water started flowing above our heads. This is why people are ready to ignore Modi’s
crony capitalism (if it’s true) - if he CAN deliver then it’s worth it, right?
After all, some amount of corruption is necessary to keep the development juggernaut
moving- right? And its not even corruption. Modi has been vociferous about his plans to construct an ambitious Sardar Patel Statue. Why does anyone in India need it? It will cost a massive 2500 crore rupees. People have been so vocal in condemning Mayawati for wasteful construction of BSP related stone structures. This Sardar Patel Statue project need not be condemned but at least not promoted at such grand scale. It's just obscene to spend such humungous amount of money till the time even one farmer commits suicide in the whole of India. I'm sure even Sardar Patel would have desired the same.
We have lambasted Kejriwal again and again for being
politically inept. Nothing is more stupid than this, because the same party
that has made Modi the PM, has made MPs out of Hema Malini, Navjot Sidhu,
Dharmendra, Manoj Tiwari and Vinod Khanna too (former or current). People have
voted Moon Moon Sen in. Okay, its TMC but seriously, WHY? I have deliberately referred to Kejriwal and Modi here, not
AAP and BJP. Simply because this general election has been fought solely on personalities this time. People have voted actors in on Modi's name. It's either too stupid or too ambitious.
I just want Kejriwal to go back to being an activist. People
like struggling heroes rather than struggling administrators. Administrators
should be tough and awe-inspiring. Not someone who actually has a past of doing
something verifiably plausible. Not someone who has impeccable academic
credentials and an equally illustrious social service record to boast of. In a
nation that fancies grey hair and the wisdom associated with it, aging
politicians like Ashok Gehlot and Kapil Sibbal will always have more supporters than Kejriwal.
Kejriwal ascended with the power of youth. But the problem
is, youth are restless. Youth are also great consumers of media and
(unfortunately for India) big-time conformists. They will feed the goose, and
expect it to lay eggs the next day. If it doesn’t, their friends will start
ridiculing their choice of bird, they will eventually succumb to the ridicule
and start mocking their own goose. Which is in this case, the chance given to Kejriwal. I have the same standard question to any young individual who curses Kejriwal today. When you voted Laloo, Mayawati and Karunanidhi and gave them so many unquestioned years of rule, why not allow someone a chance who really wants to run a government like you want it to be run? You curse a politician everytime you see their 5 car-long motorcade, yet you laugh at Kejriwal when he uses his Wagon R. You scoff at Ambani for having Z grade security, yet Kejriwal refusing it makes him a drama queen. You are against ministers using palatial houses, yet you do not want your Chief Minister to have second thoughts about moving into a (very modest) government accommodation. Really, God help you.
Kejriwal will gain respect only when people do what they want him to do. They want him to run from office to office and sit on indefinite fasts with ideological Nazis like Anna Hazare (who by the way, sanctioned a very, very weak Lokpal Bill for God knows what ego issue). People want work done, and they want a lot more than that. They will not appreciate it if you don't look like a presentable leader from a presentable party. They will definitely not like you if you look just like them, because 'Dharna toh hum khud hi kar lete'. 'Kitna khaansta hai ye'. 'Apna CM hai yaar Wagon R mein chalta hai toh sharm aati hai'. 'Kitna dramebaaz hai, sarkaari makaan lena tha to pehle hi le leta'. Sometimes the cynicism is just cringe inducing.
What we are conveniently forgetting here is that Modi does not have a magic wand. Nor does Kejriwal. Change has to come from within. Let us for one moment assume that thanks to Kejriwal, all systems are in place and corruption in a government hospital is zero. Won't we still try and bribe a peon with 100 bucks just to get us a faster appointment with a doctor? Moreover, no leader can do anything if we do not shed out cynicism about anything that s/he does. For instance, for every scheme that Modi tries to put into effect in UP, Mulayam Singh Yadav will give us 10 reasons to believe where and for whom it will not work. Our lazy, cynical selves will start criticizing Modi then for not considering all aspects of the model before implementing it. We need to be as action oriented as our leaders. Inaction on part of the public has led us to where we are today. And it will lead us to where we will be in the future as well.
I sincerely hope Modi turns out to be the efficient administrator he has been projected to be. I really hope India prospers under him. Because if that doesn't happen within the first 3.5 years of this BJP rule, it will be our largest and worst ever succumbing to paid media promotion. Money will win over sense. I hope that does not happen. Modiji, please do something good for India. As for Kejriwal, sorry boss. Too good, too soon for people.
