Aam Aadmi Party’s record-breaking success in Delhi state election, if anything, reaffirms that politics of negativity will not find a constituency with the Indian electorate, majority of whom are young and look forward with optimism to the guardians of electoral system. Much like the Congress’s attempt to sneak-peek into Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi’s personal life spelled doom for the party in the 2014 general election, the BJP’s excessive lampooning of Arvind Kejriwal received a thumbs-down from the voters of Delhi en-masse. Although the BJP considered AAP to be a defeated foe, what it could not perceive was that Kejriwal and his team, and the legacy of the anti-corruption movement which they carry, had addicted the youth of the country to not just vote in election but also participate in the electoral process by asking for greater interface with their leaders, and by acutely observing and judging how these leaders conducted themselves in public. The BJP’s evident self-pride together with its rapidly mounting narcissism, therefore, made Kejriwal’s brand of politics look like a much saner choice.
“The election outcome signifies only two things. People will tolerate neither the BJP’s arrogance nor their stupidity. And there is also a message for prime minister Narendra Modi that they are fed up with his charlatan attitude that he can be the country’s sole saviour in any circumstances. It is a positive vote for the AAP, but more importantly, there is an element of a massive negative voting for the BJP,” noted political commentator and author Paranjoy Guha Thakurta told the author. He added that Kiran Bedi’s induction into the BJP in the run up to the polls and her projection as chief ministerial candidate barely 19 days ahead of the voting day was a naive decision.
The decision to rope in Bedi proved to be a boon in disguise for the AAP as it transformed the election from an uneven battle between a ‘fallen’ Kejriwal and an invincible BJP to a direct contest between two anti-corruption icons, in which Kejriwal had a marked leverage over Bedi. For the electorate of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, the chief of AAP, and his team had regressed into a mere idealistic force that talked of participatory politics and street activism but ran away from its responsibilities when in government. This disillusion was visible in the 2014 Indian general elections in which the AAP failed to win any parliamentary seat in the national capital. Kejriwal’s notion for corruption-free governance no longer interested anybody. The focus had shifted to Narendra Modi and his ‘development politics.’
But Bedi’s nomination was seen as an admission by the Bharatiya Janata Party that it had no leader in its state unit who could match up to the charisma of Arvind Kejriwal. In a way, this helped to resurrect Kejriwal’s image from a runaway leader to man who still commanded mass following. No doubt Bedi too enjoyed considerable support from the masses who had heard stories about her dare-devilry against the ‘system’ for over three decades. But her parachute-landing into the saffron fold smelled of opportunism. This also incited the media, saturated with bashing Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi party, to focus on the new-entrant and scrutiny the very stories around Bedi which had made her the ‘admirable ex-cop’.
Social media suddenly went abuzz with news reports that pointed at Bedi’s numerous u-turns, spats and controversies during her service tenure. Most notable among them was a write up by acclaimed journalist Karan Thapar who listed ten questions he wanted to ask Bedi, had she obliged him with an interview. One of these questions enlightened the public how Bedi had on four separate occasions failed to complete her tenure and twice left her post without official sanction which amounted to desertion of duty.
Another news report which went viral dismissed the legend of “Crane Bedi”. Bedi in a school programme in 2010 in Bhopal had credited herself for having lifted Indira Gandhi’s car for wrong-parking on 5 August 1982 when the latter was the prime minister. Bedi also claimed that she faced an immediate transfer for answering her call of conscience. But the news report proved that Mrs Gandhi was not even in India at the time and the ‘chalan’ was done by a sub-inspector rather than Bedi. Bedi not only edged the sub-inspector out of the narrative to market herself but also lied about her transfer which actually took place in March 1983, seven months after the incident.
“It was a stupidity to bring in Bedi as a surprise element to the voter. She had no prior association with the BJP, and the voter completely failed to understand the logic behind this move,” Thakurta opined.
The viral news stories not only put Bedi in bad light but also shifted the focus away from Kejriwal who had become the media’s punching bag for the last one year. This gave the Aam Aadmi Party the time and space to apologise for its earlier blunder, reinvent its door-to-door campaign and reach out to the Delhi voter with personalised interaction, and once again galvanise the middle classes, which is getting increasingly apprehensive of the fringe elements surrounding the BJP.
The Delhi result is also a mandate on the nine months of Modi government however hard the BJP may try to dismiss it. There is a perception that whereas Modi has not been able to introduce any great reforms to India’s economy, right wing Hindu groups are dove-tailing their communal programmes under his nose. Indeed, what filled the newspapers’ front pages since the inception of his government are nauseating stories on ‘Love-jihad’, ‘Ghar Wapsi’, and an increased spate of communal tension. While Modi self-applauded himself saying that world leaders have adopted a “Look at East” policy ever since he came to power, US president Barck Obama’s sermon to India on religious tolerance made a mockery of his claim. His tall promises on inflation, black money, and infiltration too stand exposed. And probably that is why neither did Modi’s rallies draw any big crowds in Delhi nor newspaper ads littered with his achievements, barely 48 hours before polling, had any impact on the voter.The youth is impatient for development. And when it saw Modi badmouthing his opponent as a Naxalite, rather than deliver on his said promises of development, a massive setback was in the making.
“The BJP had everything in its favour. It is in power at the centre, it has the backing of corporates, and it has a great funding. Yet it lost the elections. The outcome is very, very clear. People want Modi to a be a little more humble, and a little less arrogant. They brought him with an overwhelming majority in 2014, and in less than nine months they have reduced his party to a non-entity in Delhi in terms of seats won. It is a warning that unless the BJP gives up its arrogance and hubris, it will have to face many such embarrassment in the days to come,” Thakurta summed up. Anando Bhakto
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