Tehelka has just published a must-read piece on AAP's campaign for the Delhi assembly elections. Some notes:
Quote of the year?
Kejriwal - “I was asked recently at Delhi University, what I will do if I lose the election. And I replied by saying — never mind me. Have you thought about what you will do in that case?”
Policies:
The biggest concerns about AAP usually center around a) will their methods of going about reducing corruption be sensible, systemic and long-term oriented? (putting people in jail cannot be THE solution), and b) what is their economic/developmental world-view? We are yet to know, but the article does provide some hints:
While some of the more complex issues are still being debated, the party is certain of the broad strokes. Its four immovable tenets are: 1. Swaraj, where decision-making should happen at the lowest denominator of our democracy, which is the panchayat; 2. Aam Aadmi first, where policies should be drafted with the last person or most vulnerable in mind; 3. Zero tolerance of majoritarianism and, therefore, no politics of caste, class or religion; and finally 4. The Constitution, which is the frame of reference for justice, equity and diversity.
So far so good, although number two is vague and can be interpreted in various ways.
Yogendra Yadav sums up what could be the making of a nuanced (economic) position. “We are clear as a party that believes in equality and social justice. What is the best instrument for achieving that? Is it the State or the market? I do hope the AAP does not take a dogmatic view on all these questions. I personally think that the old Left got it wrong in so many respects. They married the moral objectives of egalitarianism with a large number of orthodoxies about the role of the State,” he says.
Some of this out-of-the-box thinking has made the party come up with fairly original ideas. For instance, it has an integrated approach to economy and ecology. “This has been missing even from the discourse of the Left who see environmental concerns as a distant second,” she (an AAP policy-maker) says.
An integrated approach to economy and ecology is welcome, since there are often trade-offs between them.
Kejriwal’s critics have questioned some of the ways in which he positioned himself. His sweeping statements about putting an effective Lokpal in place in 15 days if elected and reducing electricity bills by half may win him the applause and attention and even votes. And then he will have to reckon with the fact that the business of ruling a state is complicated and murky. Hitting out at Reliance is a bold and effective campaign. But if the AAP does win an election in Delhi, will they really be able to cancel their licences that make them the electricity providers and will the replacement be better?
Political analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta, who is the president of the Centre for Policy Research in Delhi, has been a fierce critic of exactly this kind of hubris from Kejriwal in the past. Now that they he has stuck his neck out and formed a party, Mehta too has been suitably impressed. He says Kejriwal’s ability to “couch an agenda for reform in ways that everyone can access”, is demonstration of the kind of politics India needs.
For instance, Kejriwal spoke to traders in Nehru Place, a commercial hub in Delhi, and asked them seemingly small but extremely vital questions. Like how many chartered accountants it takes for them to fill out their tax forms. “This is the reform that really matters,” explains Mehta. “It’s an attempt to right-size reform.”
We also know that Kejriwal has often said that the government has no business to be in business. All in all, it looks like the economic philosophy of AAP is likely to be difficult to pin down conclusively to either the left or the right, but it will probably be better than most or even all of the mainstream parties.
Where AAP might struggle though, is their policies against corruption, which might turn out to be populist, short-term oriented, and framed with a self-righteous attitude and an us-versus-them philosophy. They need to be careful here, as radical and impractical solutions can have a counter-productive impact, especially on the economy.
While AAP is framing its policies, it will do well to consult Lok Satta, which has over the years developed a well-thought-out and deeply-researched policy agenda, including systemic changes in agricultural, police, judicial and administrative laws, among other things.
Funding:
One of the main difficulties and disadvantages faced by ethical parties today is the vast mismatch in funding in comparison with mainstream parties. This is a big handicap, and people of means need to step up to fund good politics. One noteworthy donation to AAP has come from Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who has donated 5 lakhs, and might well donate more soon. You can find out AAP's daily donation tally on this Facebook page.
At the AAP HQ, the party’s finance man, Pankaj Gupta, smiles as he explains how ludicrously low the budgets are. Currently, AAP has a total of Rs 4.5 crore, which, if the conventional wisdom on political parties is to be believed, is what the average national party spends on just one-two candidates. Gupta and his team are now hoping to ratchet this up to a grand total of Rs 20 crore in time for the final push in November.
So far, AAP volunteers have managed to visit 10,000 individual homes in this constituency. “Of those 10,000 homes, at least 5,000 people have made donations — even if these have been small sums of Rs 10-20. This has also included government employees,” says Durgesh (a volunteer handling Kejriwal's campaign), as he peered over a laptop that was donated to him.
Asking for small donations from voters is a very good idea, as it builds loyalty and a sense of ownership of the party.
Volunteers:
The article states that AAP has more than one lakh volunteers in Delhi, and another three lakh across the country. If true, these are absolutely phenomenal numbers, and AAP's biggest strength.
Tactical voting/Wasted vote:
I have never understood the concept of voting for the candidate who is most likely to win, even if he/she is not the best one. It's not like your one vote is going to make the difference between victory and defeat for anyone, so in a sense your vote is going to be 'wasted' anyway. So why not just vote for the best candidate in the hope that he might win, or at least be encouraged to contest in the future too?
Vijay Goel, expected to be the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, used effective street talk in his dismissal of the AAP: “The people of Delhi vote for a party they think will win. So they will not waste their votes on the AAP.”
"Manish Sisodia has his own clever retort. “When people ask me that if the Congress or the BJP sweeps the election, won’t their AAP votes go to waste? And I tell them — by voting for Sheila Dikshit and not getting electricity at a reasonable rate or clean drinking water or health facilities, isn’t your vote going to waste anyway?”
Anti-Congress votes:
One criticism often leveled against AAP is that it will only eat into the anti-incumbency/anti-Congress votes and eventually help the Congress. I don't think that is an issue at all. AAP will eat into all sorts of votes, including anti-BJP/BSP ones too, apart from enticing people who never vote at all.
Other notable quotes:
Added Sandeep Dikshit of the Congress: “They are just another party. They are spending money on this election just as we are. And campaigning just as we are. There is nothing to distinguish them from everyone else.”
On their positioning as a clean party, Dikshit retorts: “The only thing is, we have worn our white shirts since the morning, they have only just put theirs on.”
"To win an election, they need the same paraphernalia that every political party depends on: corruption" - KC Tyagi, JD(U), (effectively admitting that his party is corrupt?)
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