Let him sweep clean!

Sketch courtesy my DNA ex-colleague Bhagvan Das.

Raju Korti
Writing on political affairs, more so as someone from the mainstream media, always comes with its attendant risks. For one and willy nilly, you run the inevitable prospect of being labeled as a stooge of some party or carrying out propaganda for some leader. Given the scenario that obtains in the Media these days, that is not an entirely unfounded fear. So a disclaimer here would well be in order.
Let me summon all my professional integrity and say on oath that I have never carried the burden of a political affiliation. In my more than three-decade career I have been witness to enough murky political dealings to turn me into an irretrievable cynic. My revulsion for politics stems from my considered belief that expediency and convenience are two sides of the same political coin. When these become over-riding factors, honesty is the first casualty.
The precise reason why I am laboring over this sincere disclaimer is my friends -- for right or wrong reasons -- are sharply divided on their political credo. In fact, I suspect this political divide has also dented their personal relationships to an extent but that will not reflect in their exterior.
It is therefore with some trepidation that I am venturing to make some pertinent observations about this new phenomenon called Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by the feisty Arvind Kejriwal. It is not my case here as a political commentator but as a citizen who would like to -- in all fairness -- keep his irrevocable cynicism on the hold. At least until such time as AK and Co will hurtle me back into its throes with the kind of politics we all have become inured to.
From cracking IIT to UPSC and now the Delhi chief minister's office in one shot, AK managed to achieved too much in too little time. Its not as if the anti-corruption plank is new in India's electoral politics, but AK made it a part of national consciousness although he had a blow-hot-blow-cold relationship going with his self-proclaimed and battle-weary mentor Anna Hazare. The latter chose to keep away from politics while AK reconciled to the fact that a change in system could be brought about only if one became a part of it. But that is not germane to the points that I raise here.
I believe it was wise thinking on AK's part to take up the office after initial damned-if-we-do-damned-if-we-don't dithering. If the AAP refused to take charge, it would be criticized for running away from a responsibility. If they leaned on Congress, they would still be rapped on their knuckles for aligning the very corrupt they sought to dislodge. Thanks to a fractured mandate AK was put on the razor's edge. With BJP refusing to form the government, AK had a Hobson's choice. Neither AK nor Congress had the numbers to form a government on their own steam but AK shook hands with the Congress fully seized of the latter's penchant to pull down the governments they propped up in the past. "Aam aadmi ka haath Congress ke saath" was the derisive refrain. However, AK shrewdly calculated that in that eventuality the Congress would do itself more harm than it would do to the AAP although one  wonders if Congress is at all left with any reputation to damage it any further.
Well begun may be half done but AK has a tough road ahead. While he deserves all the concessions as a first timer, he also needs to rein the populism that he looks to succumb to in the euphoria that obtains in his favor. The Congress to a huge extent and the BJP to some have had their chance at governance. So let's not be outrightly dismissive of a party that has promised clean administration. In an era of coalition politics the ruling dispensation exerts only in doing a balancing act to keep its allies in good humor. So AK needs to be given some length of the rope before knives are out in the event of its failure. For AK's and people's sake, let's hope that prospect will not throw up.
My good projection of AK, however, comes with a dark lining. Ever since he took charge as Delhi's Chief Minister, AK seems to be in a tearing hurry to fulfill the promises his party has made in its manifesto. Howsoever he may try to rationalize that here lurks the danger of succumbing to populism.
AK began with the transfers of some bureaucrats which happen both for political as well as administrative reasons. However, for the moment AK needs to be given the benefit of doubt that these were not meant to have a pliant bureaucracy around him. He also discarded the red beacons that our public representatives flaunt as status symbols -- a move that gels with the ideals the party claims to espouse.
AK might be on the button as far as providing free water and reducing power tariff are concerned but these moves carry populist overtones. While the utility and compulsion of those could be argued for and against, he must bide his time before he implements them. The first he has already fulfilled and it has got him a few brownie points too, but the second is a little far-fetched.
The Delhi electricity regulator is none too happy with the move and argues the government has no right to interfere with the power tariff which is set as per the law and with due diligence. How does the AAP propose to downscale the tariff beyond a point as 70% of Delhi's power comes from outside and there is no control over the cost of power? Power companies already have accumulated losses amounting to Rs 1100 crore and if AK falls to rhetorical politics, the debate over grant of subsidies will be back on center-stage. Not a smart economic agenda.
Politics is a laboratory for bizarre and strange experiments. Having been vocal on weeding out  corruption from the country's vitals, one hopes for AK's sake he does not land into the anti-communalism quagmire. By hobnobbing with the likes Teesta Setalwad the AAP can only be its own destroyer. Being a part of the country's babudom, AK will do well to realize how the political class uses bureaucracy to further its own ends. If he falls into the same rut, his party will be the biggest misnomer and disillusionment of its time.
While these words of caution and restraint precede AK's tenure, he also gives us some pre-emptive hope. Said he: "We do not know how long our relationship with the Congress would last. We were a movement and as a political party we are in a nascent age. We do not have past experience but we have the will. We are here to honor all our commitments made during the election campaign. For instance, an immediate helpline to report corruption and appointing honest bureaucrats will be started forthwith. All change is not comfortable but when it is for larger good it has to be done. And we will. Beginning with doing away of VIP culture! We are not taking any big bungalows, pilot cars, PSOs or escorts. Security will only be threat-perception based. We are here to challenge the status quo of which the aam aadmi is disgusted."
If the BJP wants to checkmate the AAP, it must desist from making outlandish claims like the one my friend Nitin Gadkari made the other day. While accusing that the AAP-Congress deal was brokered by an industrialist, Gadkari forgot he himself played the broker on a numerous occasions to keep his party's alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. But then you can't blame Gadkari. Most politicians suffer from amnesia and believe that people too are afflicted by the same malady.
It is too early to write an AAP score-card with the party's gambits. Its subjects -- the very aam aadmis -- will give their verdict. If nothing else, democracy will march on.

Disclaimer: The writer doesn't have any political leanings. The views expressed in this blog are not his but those of the aam aadmi.