Delhi doesn’t have a govt for a while. While Presidential rule looks inevitable, the people of Delhi at least got to see the drama and theatre of Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP party members. To borrow from AAP’s new-found admirer, Rahul Gandhi, it has been “complete nonsense” for the last 3 days. One loose cannon after another from AAP shooting nonsense. India Today carried an article on December 14 on the grand plans of AK supposedly written by Shanti Bhushan (father of AAP member Prashant Bhushan and one of the main people in the AAP core leadership) but later pulled it when Shanti Bhushan denied he had written it. Funny, isn’t it? A news outlet carries a full article and doesn’t know how it came through, who edited it, who cleared it and how it got uploaded. Surely, someone must have written it so who is India Today fooling? Here’s the article:

So everyone who suspected that Arvind and his Aam admi team are really meant to do a whack job against BJP and Narenda Modi found that the article confirmed that suspicion. The leaders of AAP decided on another gimmick. Instead of showing courage to form a govt or deciding firmly to sit in the Opposition, AK shot off 18 questions to the BJP and Congress. With this step, he is escaping the very function of the Government in the parliament-to convince the House on all decisions taken by the government. Arvind Kejriwal claimed both parties had assured them “unconditional” support to form the government. That itself is a bogus claim. The Congress promised them “unconditional” love and support, but the BJP has promised no such thing. The BJP only stated “issue based support” as they do in parliament with bills like FSB, Lokpal etc, otherwise they said that they would prefer to be a constructive opposition. These theatrics help to fool the useful clowns in the media who don’t even bother to check if the questions are really sensible or more tomfoolery. Let’s examine the validity or relevance of some of these questions to any cause or outcome of governance:

1. The VIP culture should be stopped in Delhi. No MLA, minister or Delhi official will use a red beacon on their cars. Neither will they live in big bungalows nor take any special security.

 

The SC has recently ruled that all states should submit a list of VVIPs who can use the red beacon In any case, how does red beacon become a hurdle for implementing the manifesto of AAP? The bungalows for residence are allotted by the govt itself. Now if AK wants, his AAP party members may choose not to live in such bungalows but how is this measure going to result in any direct benefit to citizens? The very nature of the question is nonsensical to say the least. Adding to that, the SC ruling also says that only the highest constitutional dignitaries in the State can use the red beacons and not every MLA or MP. Thus, as the Congress has offered support to the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal is the most probably CM, it is upto him to decide whether he needs the red beacon or no, and not the decision of the Congress or the BJP.

 

 

3. People will take decision directly in ‘mohalla sabhas’… in every locality and colony.

 

Why should anyone agree to this ? If AAP wants to make decisions based on these “sabhas” there is nothing to stop them. But one hopes these people don’t forget legislation still has to be done in the Assembly and not in Mohallas. So it’s for AAP to convince the house on any legislation being worthy on merits. Why should anyone agree to such a stupid demand? Even if the BJP stupidly supported this, does it have any legal validity? No, but this is another way to fool people into believing something that is frivolous. For this to be implemented effectively, a legislation of the same nature is first needed in the Parliament. And instead of this, the AAP can strengthen the local level organizations where the people can voice their opinions, instead of creating a whole new body of sorts. Another big problem to this is the respresentation of a section of the society. Only a few people in a ward will attend these Sabhas and that will not represent the voice of the constituency. It will also be difficult to frame laws after so much of consultation and sessions of the Mohalla Sabha. This measure is bound to delay the decision taking process and will make the functioning of the government difficult. And, if this is created, there is no need for a government and for MLAs as respresentatives of the people. The Mohalla Sabhas can voice their decisions and the collective will of the majority should become a law. MLAs are elected by the people on the basis of trust so that they can sit in the Assembly and deliberate on the process of law making. This entire setting up of Mohalla Sabhas is an excuse to run away from governance as the AAP MLAs are not capable administrators. Instead of ending corruption in this fairly good system, the AAP seems to be running away from the system and running away from the process of legislation and decision making.

 

6. Electricity meters should be checked & 7. There is 220 litres of water available for every person daily. Where is it?..

 

Why would anyone have a problem with this either? You want to check meters go ahead and check. You want to audit electricity companies, go ahead and do it. Both the Congress and the BJP are in favour of this and have raised their concerns over electricity theft. You want to find out where 220 litres water per individuals are hidden? What stops you from searching yourself if you were to form the govt? Why do you need to know the stand of the BJP and the Congress on this through a letter. Most of the AAP demands make the assembly a completely useless place where the MLAs will just sit and do nothing, because the process of deliberation and decision making is being done by the few people in the Sabhas and negotiations have to take place through public letters and not in the Assembly. I wonder what will happen to the Constitution if AAP ever makes a Central Government.

 

11. It wants to give infrastructural facilities like roads, electricity, water and basic facilities to the ordinary trader.

 

This is laughable. I am sure both BJP and Congress will object to such a stupid demand because both object to good roads and facilities to ordinary traders. Is that what the AAP jokers want everyone to believe? Or is that if AAP decides to build good roads, provide electricity and water BJP is going to sit on a dharna to protest? This is a ridiculous clause. No party is against development, no party promotes stagnant economy. It is the corruption which stops development. AAP should focus more on eradicating corruption from the system, the very reason for which the party was constituted, and not on making stupid clauses and letters and claims.

 

That is how the 18 questions go. Check all of them. None of them really have any point of conflict which any political party would really object to; except maybe a stray couple. At least not in principle and some of them cannot be agreed to without the finer details. So what is the childish drama all about? The 2nd question in the list of 18 is quite interestingly on the Jan Lokpal Bill. 2. Passing of the Janlokpal Bill, the same version for which Anna Hazare held fasts. So when the Congress and BJP have agreed to pass a JLP Bill that even Anna has welcomed and called a strong piece of legislation, the AAP leader Kumar Vishwas calls those supporting it “gaddaars” (traitors). His comments were aired throughout Sunday by Timesnow. So now he’s implying Anna is a gaddaar too and that unless Arvind Kejriwal says yes it remains a Jokepal, is it?
And all the AAP leaders have gone on an all out attack on Anna, saying that he is being misled. Do they think he is that stupid, that he will get into the words of the Congress and the BJP, against whom he campaigned for three long years, holding many dharnas and fasts. Have any of the AAP members read the revised Lokpal, do they think Kiran Bedi and Anna are senseless people? I’m sorry! Anna is not being misled now; he was being misled in 2011 when the fasting started. Now AK says fasting does not achieve anything.Then why did you start a fasting movement in 2011? Why did you do all those fasts? My fear that AK wanted to enter politics, using Anna, just gets stronger minute by minute. AK’s first choice to lead the IAC movement wasn’t Anna at all. Nora Chopra who writes a ‘Buzz’ column in the Sunday Guardian noted on December 28, 2011 that AK first tried NR Narayanamurthy and APJ Abdul Kalam who declined. Murthy threw him some loose change as donation and sent him on his way.

 

The final choice was Anna who agreed to fast unto death for this bill. And now AK grandly states Anna is being misled. Anna knows who was misled and so do people. In music parlance they call the AK act a “one-hit” wonder. Once the JLP bill is settled these guys won’t have much to scream about having proved that they simply don’t have any idea of running a govt or at least don’t wish to. Administration is not a child’s play. It requires skills. A jhadoo walla can’t be an administrator. If he could, he would not be a jhadoo walla. And that is what AK needs to realise. Anna finally stated on Sunday, December 15 “I am not concerned with what AAP has to say, AK should do what he wants. Truth will be in front of people, I don’t want to say anything about him” (quoted on Headlines Today). I wouldn’t be wrong in saying AK fooled Anna in the past and now he is fooling all the people in Delhi and other places. It is easier to keep fooling people than to tell them they were fooled. I guess some brilliant mind did say that long before we learned it through this AAP hit, which hit us harder than it hit the political scene.

 

So that brings us back to the aborted article that appeared in India Today. People now keep copies and pics. If you missed the article you can read it here. To me, it doesn’t matter who wrote it. It does matter what is written and if that reflects any credible analysis. It bears out not only what has been written on this site before but many observers have noted. Essentially, AK is doing a whack job against BJP and Modi and this has been so since the day he called Modi “corrupt” in July 2012
“So Kejriwal defied Anna Hazare and formed a political outfit by the name of AAP, giving it a colour of an anti-corruption unit against both the national parties, instead of just opposed to the Congress against whom the movement was initiated in the first place. He intentionally and mischievously raised the bogey of Gadkari’s corruption and bracketed him with the Congress party’s known corrupt politicians to show his ‘secular’ credentials. The BJP’s name was sullied to please a particular community. Otherwise the BJP was nowhere near power so there was no question of them having been involved in corruption”. The BJP was accused of some corruption which was mostly a media campaign but still is nowhere close to the Himalayan corruption of Congress which actually started Anna’s movement. The image is very telling. All the black sheep are accusing a giant that is a threat as the more corrupt one because a small part of its skin is black. I don’t think anyone is missing the game being played out by AK & Co. especially when they have announced they are now going to contest all the LS seats in Gujarat. Nothing stops them contesting any elections but the objective of targeting BJP and Modi in particular is not a secret anymore. You have a fair idea of who the hit-job is for.

 

People are very observant now. People also see through masks that people wear. The mother of all facts is that nobody expected AAP to win 28 seats, not even AK and his current mentor Yogendra Yadav. The stupid 18 questions are meant to cover up for their failures. People latch on to the most important promises made by political parties. In AAP’s case there are 2 important promises: 1) 50% cut in electricity charges and 2) 700 litres of water per household every day. Clearly, it seems AK & Co. have no idea of how they can deliver on this. If they had known they would come this close to forming a govt they wouldn’t have made these undeliverable promises. That is what is hurting them. Even the Lokpal bill doesn’t bother ordinary people that much but the lure of 50% cut in electricity bills and good supply of water does. This is where AAP failed. AK failed the people, he failed Anna.

RahulG showed a lot of arrogance in barging into a presser screaming “complete nonsense to be torn and thrown away” about an ordinance. At other places he rolled up his sleeves and even lied, tied Muslim youth to ISI. All that was in vain! People have seen Congress corruption and misrule. The new friend Congress now has is AK and his AAP in principle and in ideology. That’s the reason RahulG sees he can learn from them. But there is something Arun Jaitley rightly points out in his latest blog “Politics and arrogance’ (when RahulG and 3 sidekicks announced the Lokpal bill to be passed): “Yesterday, both the language, approach and the body language was different.  After electoral wrap on the knuckles, the mighty had fallen.  The ‘game changer’ had been abandoned.  They were now looking for a conciliatory approach”. In his minor victory AK and all his loose cannons have become like the earlier RahulG, arrogant and plenty of loose talk. Maybe they have something to learn from the “new, improved” RahulG, though that is as bad as it can get.

Thank you for reading. I have nothing against the AAP or against AK. I was a great admirer of the AAP movement until when the AAP became an arrogant party full of a bunch of arrogant leaders.