Articles

Elections don’t just choose a ruler. They also cull out those unfit to rule. The upcoming state Assembly elections of 2017 will not just decide the fate of many political parties but also the political pull factor of many leaders. Delhi drawing room discourse is obsessed with the Uttar Pradesh circus—the Yadav Parivar, Gandhi’s gaffes, Amit Shah’s calculus—and has pronounced its mandate in BJP’s favour. But both pollsters and political pundits ignore the implications of how well the second youngest chief minister in India and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal performs. Neither he nor his party is a factor in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, which also has the most Lok Sabha seats. Delhi, with just seven MPs, is hardly a factor in determining the Prime Minister or the government at the Centre. Yet Kejriwal’s Himalayan political victory in Delhi, in 2015, catapulted him to the national level. Today, winning populous Punjab and tiny Goa will provide him the turbo thrust to achieve greater political mileage and majority. AK’s performance and promises clearly indicate that he believes the individual triumphs over
ideology in new age politics.

Since his unprecedented success in Delhi, AK’s interest lies more in retaining and consolidating his national stature rather than ensuring the best governance possible within the worst constitutional framework. He has been active in politics for the past four years. Yet he remains an enigma to not just the parties but also to his core constituents. In the Hindi heartland, all talk revolves around “sabse bada sawaal, who and what is Kejriwal?” Decoding AK is the dream of the day. Is he an anarchist as the BJP would like the electorate to believe? Or is he a dictator who doesn’t tolerate even the slightest whiff of dissent? Is he a marketer and modernist thanks to being an IIT graduate? Does he have an ideology or a road map for governance? Or does he just simply practice hit-and-run politics and rules by error and terror and not conviction? Or is he just a symbol of disruptive politics?

It’s a singular case of cruise by control. Kejriwal is perhaps the only and first chief minister without a portfolio who possesses a humungous national profile. He runs his government by remote control—Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. It was evident from day one that he wasn’t willing to be confined to Delhi. AK has always pitted himself against Narendra Modi. His other foe is Rahul Gandhi. He is giving both a massive mauling on the social media. With 10 million-plus  followers on Twitter and seven million Facebook ‘likes,’ AK is the second-most popular politician online. If Modi and his party have millions of social media warriors, Kejriwal has net gorillas who troll all critics of their leader.

AK is a commander with an army, which has only one target—Prime Minister Modi. In spite of his Marwari origins, AK’s tone and tenor has lambasted the business community. While national parties have a defined ideology, Kejriwal has developed a new model—Kejriwalism. He sees attack as the best form of defence. He doesn’t believe in explaining but in seeking explanations. The administrative actions of his government mirror his mission. AAP is trying to convert Delhi into a welfare state. His ministers are setting up mohalla clinics to provide free and affordable healthcare to the poor. Sisodia is obsessed with upgrading public education by visiting schools and making teachers and officials accountable.