Democracy is a Govt by discussion which is why I have chosen to discuss these learning’s with you.
Spending time with Meera's campaign I have had the fortune of meeting the Aam population of Mumbai. People I may not have come across in my ordinary routine existence. Most were delighted at the evolution of AAP under AKs leadership. My own views and why I joined the effort.
However not so Aam friends of mine, particularly from the business community have strongly levied the, now patented, criticisms saying that `We had great hopes which have now been dashed by the resignation of the Delhi Cabinet, the Dharna, Somnath's conduct, baseless promises of subsidized water and electricity in Delhi which are Economically nonviable propositions ....." .... and so on.
But they have been kind not to criticize Meera or .... (a lesser/Aam) me, as they find us to be intelligent and mature. This appreciation is humbling and I have no doubt that Meera will join me in appreciating these potentially open minds, seemingly disturbed by the recent actions in Delhi. This obligates me to share my thoughts with you. Please do allow me the liberty to do so, as also to pick up from what I have recently read and heard. Credits to Prithvi Reddy, Rama Bijapurkar, Mohan Guruswamy and Rajeev Bhargava.
I perused the views of Prithvi Reddy, an AAP spokesperson and I quote what he has said.
QUOTE
AAP's spokesperson Prithvi Reddy explains the party's stand on why Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet resigned.
Why AAP quit government. To explain this, let us rewind a bit.
In 2011, people of our country said, "enough is enough" and came together to fight for a strong Anti-corruption law. After many protests, numerous hunger strikes, millions of people coming out on the streets followed by broken promises of politicians across parties, we were mocked at and told that laws are not made in "streets or maidans" and if we wanted to make laws, we needed to contest elections, form the government and then write laws.
While there are very many things to be changed in our country, AAP's primary fight is to fight against corruption.
Aam Aadmi Party was formed and we decided to first contest elections in Delhi. Citizens of Delhi not just supported us by voting without the usual electoral considerations of religion, caste, money and muscle power but helped us redefine "winnability" in politics.
Is it true that BJP and Congress wanted to support the Bill, but only wanted to us to do it in a "constitutional way"?
Before forming the government, we were offered "unconditional support" by the Congress and "issue-based support" by the BJP. We had listed out an 18-point agenda which contained promises we had made to the citizens of Delhi and asked them to specifically confirm their support of the same. The Congress said that for most of the issues their support was not required as it was the prerogative of the government and they would support the issues wherein their support was necessary. The BJP, instead of clarifying their position, said it was unheard of for a party to put up conditions for the support that they were offering. Now both the parties have gone back on their assurances.
As a part of the Jan Lokpal Bill, we had written that the law passed at the Centre would be applicable to all the states in the form of a Jan Lokayukta Bill. This was strongly opposed by all parties in Parliament, saying it was against the Federal structure and every state should have the option of passing their own bill. Now, when AAP government in Delhi tried to introduce Jan Lokpal bill, Congress and BJP joined hands and have been saying that the bill cannot be introduced without consent of the Governor acting on behalf of the President of India.
Interestingly, Sheila Dikshit's government passed a resolution in 2002 (details below) preventing meddling by the then BJP led Central government in the matters of Delhi state government. Now, the same Congress Central government is meddling in the affairs of Delhi.
Citizens of our country have seen a new phenomenon in the recent past wherein parties who have all along opposed each other and their respective policies, have come together to oppose the passing of the bill to bring political parties under the ambit of RTI and also to oppose the Supreme court's directive to keep "criminal out of politics". Yesterday, was another classic example of the nexus between such parties which seem to be making laws based on vested interests who hold their purse strings.
Why did we not go to courts and seek directives against the Governor's order ?
This suggestion is being given knowing fully well, the time required presently for courts to decide on such matters. Rather than going to courts for the next many years, we prefer going to the people and seeking a mandate which will allow us to form a majority government both at the state and the Centre.
Why did we resign without consulting our voters ?
Against all expert predictions, we won 28 seats. Since we did not have a majority and required outside support of, one of the two parties we had fought against, we consulted with our voters as to whether we should take up the challenge thrown at us. In the case of the resignation, however, as we were not able to deliver on our main promise of passing an equivalent of the "Jan Lokpal Bill " in Delhi, there was nothing for us to go back to people with.
Are we running away from Governance ?
Although we have been in power for only 49 days, the Aam Aadmi on the street has experienced reduced corruption and improved governance due to several initiatives of our government a list of the same is given below.
While there are very many things to be changed in our country, our primary fight is against corruption, since it is the root cause of all other problems. We now recognise that there is no way for us to achieve this, being a minority government, with outside support from the existing political parties.We therefore have chosen to go back to people and seek a mandate that will allow us to deliver on the promises we have made to them.
ACHIEVEMENTS IN 49 DAYS OF AAP DELHI
1 End of VIP, Red-light Culture
2 Half Electricity Bills for those consuming upto 400 units
3 Free Water for those consuming upto 20 KL per month
4 Retail FDI stopped
5 58 new Night Shelters added in One month to existing 175 old Night Shelters
6 Ordered CAG Audit of Discoms
7 Transferred 800 and Suspended 3 Delhi Jalboard Employees
8 Started Corruption Helpline No. 1031
9 Started Nursery School Admission Helpline No. 011-27352525
10 Stopped Donation for Admission to Schools
11 Action on Corruption fast-tracked
12 Checked Ration Mafia
13 Rs One Crore given to wife of Delhi Police's Martyr
14 Checked Water Tanker Mafia
15 Delhi Janlokpal Bill and Nagar Swaraj Bill cleared by Cabinet
16 Government Schools given Rs One Lakh each for improving Infrastructure
17 Issued Permits to 5500 Auto-rickshaws for plying in NCR
18 Ordered formation of SIT to probe 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots
19 Formed Committee to devise Women Security Force
20 Formed Committee to look into Permanency of Contract Labour and Guest Teachers
21 Surprise Checks of Govt Hospitals, Schools, Night Shelters and Transport Buses
22 Reward to Sportsmen
23 Bus Pass facility to Students
24 Recruited several Govt Employees
25 Ordered checking of faulty / fast Electricity Meters
26 Registered FIR in Commonwealth Lights Scam
27 Registered 3 FIRs in Jalboard Scams
28 Registered FIR in Reliance Gas Price Scam
29 Simplification of VAT and tax rebate on small scale industries upto 1 crore turnover.
Text of the motion passed by Sheila Government in 2002 :
The House condemns this decision of the Home Ministry taken without consulting the popularly elected Delhi Government. This House is of the view that these orders are in total violation of all democratic traditions and harmonious relations between the Centre and the States. This House resolves that there can be only one definition of the government for legislative and any other purpose and this is the 'Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi'. Moreover, amendment of rules 23 & 55(1) cannot take away what the Constitution (69th Amendment) Act and the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1992 have sought to give to the people of Delhi. This House therefore resolves that the above two unilateral orders aimed at curtailing the powers of a duly elected popular government should in the first instance be immediately withdrawn by the Central Government. UNQUOTE
So there is another point of view, my friends!
For me, a compelling reason to connect with the Aam Aadmi Initiative and spend some time contributing to its evolution, were the strong words of Ayn Rand in her book Atlas Shrugged, written in 1957.
"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed."
Further clarity came to me when I attended the panel discussion hosted by the Asia Society - Flash Forecast: Indian Elections 2014 - with Rama Bijapurkar, Rajeev Bhargava and Mohan Guruswamy
Rajeev Bhargava explained that there was a disillusionment with the Congress Party and its allies (aka UPA2). In such a situation in a democracy, the response tends to be to bring in authoritarian decisive leadership and/or a populist response seeking to develop innovative methods (innovation & entrepreneurship). Modi represents the former and AK the latter. The voter tends to oscillate between the two. AAP has displayed populist features. There has been the creation of two homogeneous and antagonist groups. What seems certain is that the electoral arithmetic will see the Congress electoral diminish.
Mohan Guruswamy explained the Golden Mongoose story from Mahabharat see http://bit.ly/goldenmongoose. MG said that in India our system was not working. We were intended to be a hybrid democracy centre - state and local. Representative democracy has remained intact but the direct component has diminished. He went on to say that the concept of a political party was not defined in any constitution save and except in China and North Korea. In India we faced a Clan Democracy, which really takes us back to Mahabharat Stories, he said. He also cited Afghan's clan based leadership from history. When power becomes hereditary, children of somebody come in without paying their dues to earn their way in. In Smt. Indira Gandhi case, she came after Lal Bahadur Shastri and she had worked hard. In India 68 percent are below the poverty line. Irrigation and banking as examples of no innovation. The Mumbai Airport has been built by GVK which carries a INR 23k Cr debt, and is praised by the Prime Minister - but how will it be repaid? In this situation, the antagonist, AK says most are thieves. He says that there is very limited True Entrepreneurship succeeding in India. (see Israel and compare). MG says that quality goods not delivered at a price. Bhanu Pratap Mehta and Shekhar Gupta have commented on it too. Present day discussions on Telangana however -Costal Andhra is very rich with a high per capita income!
The discussion to follow considered the question as to who the beneficiaries of development in India were, and who was left out. Price rise was the single strongest pain faced by the people. Corruption and collusion were predominant and lead to price rise. Ordinary people felt that they had been disregarded. And in this scenario came out an AK who raised balance issues. To try and take politics out of the system to make it work, which is again why AAP representatives are very similar in being straight, swift and sharp.
It was discussed that the Congress, a seeming looser this time around, looked forward to the prospects of a hoch-poch Khichadi Govt. formation at LS 2014, to be in its own long term self interests. Modi's problem was with the Congress. Where as AK took exception with the entire political system and therefore sides with its customer, the voter. With all the schemes introduced over the past 10 years, the Congress ought to be very comfortably in power. But thats not the case. In the gathering of around 180 intelligentsia from Mumbai present at the meeting, only 2 believed that the UPA may look at a version III. Half felt that an NDA coalition would result from LS 2014 and an equal number felt that AAP would make a significant impact on politics, as had already been demonstrated.
What was further discussed was that India had little surplus for capital expenditure, because bits and pieces were thrown to the masses instead of focused large quantums. The vote therefore would be to throw out the Govt. in power. But what is very significant is that AK has changed the rules, probably for ever! Fragmentation by way of regional parties would continue. Whereas Modi sought to reintroduce a national mood, the evidence was not indicative of its establishment. AKs Rohtak-Haryana meeting was humongous (see http://bit.ly/akrohtak off course noted as a continuing success in the North) but in contrast people curious to hear Modi were walking out of meetings in large numbers. Whereas the change in Congress votes was estimated to be small at 1.4%, the swing would favour the anti-incumbents (if I have understood correctly). However no one is risking forecasting any more. All parties haven't swung into action so far eg. 3rd front see http://bit.ly/3rdfront Percentages may change. Concentration of votes in a few states. Prepaid and post paid alliances may be followed up by m&a. One with the marginal votes may change the result. However, the AAP will not align and if its success is limited (NO QUESTION OF FAILURE) would act as a constructive and progressive opposition, which Meera too stated at the Priyadarshini Park last Saturday 22.02.
It is clear that AK has changed the game already. Translation to votes remains a question. AK was writing the agenda and others may die by it as they will find implementation difficult. Described as Shivji ki baraat. All this would, to our long term fortune, change the politics in India.
The audience raised questions. How come good economics did not make good politics, so far? This may change now considering AAPs Socially Responsible Capitalism - is that bad ? See AK at CII with CSR etc. well recognized now.
There was an observation that AAP may not fully disclose its policies completely at present. The tug between equity and growth would determine things. Institutional stability would be important. The toughest job would continue to be to run the Govt. The man at the top must have clear ideas. An example was a past idea of the Golden Quadrilateral to link markets and metros instead of an idealistic Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Somnath to Silchar connection.
Modi's instincts were good but he lacked the ability to deal with others. Money flows included 20% into gdps subsidies losses npas etc. World hunger index only 16 countries were ahead of India. Political ideologies were becoming increasingly blurred.
Republic = a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated President rather than a monarch.
The best way to get a hold on the state was to form groups or Parties. Political confrontation was over scarce resources and their alternative uses, yet good economics, so far, had not been equated with good politics. Sudheendra Kulkarni with a BJP affiliation has clearly indicated his desire to convert low lease rental race courses, clubs & golf courses, a kind of subsidy, to public utility grounds.
Was AAP institutionalized enough (Organizational Development) to Govern ? This was questioned. Or did it have abilities only to raise questions? Somnath's actions were considered far worse than the dharna, in true negative impact for AAP. Counter blasts in African countries had not been considered. AK was not an anarchist. Rajiv Gandhi & Modi both came to power in true situations of anarchy.
So AAP never had the majority in Delhi. Nor was the backdoor support of 8 Congress MLAs and the Congress Governor, anything other than an effort to ensure that the single largest party, BJP, was kept out. See 1 2 3 4 links. But it will take 5 years for the AAP to ready itself to Govern. Having changed the politics of India, it (AAP) was already good for the country. But there is no comparative assessment of the first 60 days in Govt. NOTA is a misguided idealism by the Election Commission http://bit.ly/notaindia But a cartoon depicts late Sh. MK Gandhi selecting NOTA in the present times.
We may be better off giving AAP candidates like Meera Sanyal an opportunity. She is intelligent, mature, honest and by no means wears kid gloves. It has been a pleasure campaigning with an organized person and thorough professional. I personally strongly believe that India needs her. Besides she will have a positive impact on the evolution of the AAP, going forward! It is up to us voters in South Mumbai, to get her into Parliament.
Watch these Meera Sanyal on youtube and this.
Some links to AK Interviews
AK with TimesNow after forming the Delhi Govt. - he made it clear that he did not want to form the Govt., but left it to the people to decide. (DIRECT / PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY)
AK at CII
With Rajdeep
With Barkha
With Headlines Today
Entrepreneurship in Politics
Others
Amartya Sen endorses AAP and makes suggestions
Ninad Karpe
Kishore Mahbubani
Last Elections LS 2009
Constituency Name - South Mumbai
Contestants - 20
Total Electors - 15,89,811
Voted 6,41,571 40.35%
Not Voted 9,48,240 59.64%
Party Candidate Votes % of Total
1 INC Milind Deora 2,72,411 17.13 %
2 MNS Bala Nandgaonkar 1,59,729 10.04 %
3 Shiv Sena Mohan Rawale 1,46,118 9.19 %
4 BSP Mohammad Ali Shaikh 33,799 2.12 %
5 Independent Meera Sanyal 10,157 0.6 %
MORE VOTERS NEED TO COME OUT AND VOTE! A CANDIDATE GETTING 17.13% OF THE TOTAL ELECTORS VOTES HAS WON THE LAST TIME!
JAGO RE JAGO !
Spending time with Meera's campaign I have had the fortune of meeting the Aam population of Mumbai. People I may not have come across in my ordinary routine existence. Most were delighted at the evolution of AAP under AKs leadership. My own views and why I joined the effort.
However not so Aam friends of mine, particularly from the business community have strongly levied the, now patented, criticisms saying that `We had great hopes which have now been dashed by the resignation of the Delhi Cabinet, the Dharna, Somnath's conduct, baseless promises of subsidized water and electricity in Delhi which are Economically nonviable propositions ....." .... and so on.
But they have been kind not to criticize Meera or .... (a lesser/Aam) me, as they find us to be intelligent and mature. This appreciation is humbling and I have no doubt that Meera will join me in appreciating these potentially open minds, seemingly disturbed by the recent actions in Delhi. This obligates me to share my thoughts with you. Please do allow me the liberty to do so, as also to pick up from what I have recently read and heard. Credits to Prithvi Reddy, Rama Bijapurkar, Mohan Guruswamy and Rajeev Bhargava.
 |
| Prithvi Reddy |
I perused the views of Prithvi Reddy, an AAP spokesperson and I quote what he has said.
QUOTE
AAP's spokesperson Prithvi Reddy explains the party's stand on why Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet resigned.
Why AAP quit government. To explain this, let us rewind a bit.
In 2011, people of our country said, "enough is enough" and came together to fight for a strong Anti-corruption law. After many protests, numerous hunger strikes, millions of people coming out on the streets followed by broken promises of politicians across parties, we were mocked at and told that laws are not made in "streets or maidans" and if we wanted to make laws, we needed to contest elections, form the government and then write laws.
While there are very many things to be changed in our country, AAP's primary fight is to fight against corruption.
Aam Aadmi Party was formed and we decided to first contest elections in Delhi. Citizens of Delhi not just supported us by voting without the usual electoral considerations of religion, caste, money and muscle power but helped us redefine "winnability" in politics.
Is it true that BJP and Congress wanted to support the Bill, but only wanted to us to do it in a "constitutional way"?
Before forming the government, we were offered "unconditional support" by the Congress and "issue-based support" by the BJP. We had listed out an 18-point agenda which contained promises we had made to the citizens of Delhi and asked them to specifically confirm their support of the same. The Congress said that for most of the issues their support was not required as it was the prerogative of the government and they would support the issues wherein their support was necessary. The BJP, instead of clarifying their position, said it was unheard of for a party to put up conditions for the support that they were offering. Now both the parties have gone back on their assurances.
As a part of the Jan Lokpal Bill, we had written that the law passed at the Centre would be applicable to all the states in the form of a Jan Lokayukta Bill. This was strongly opposed by all parties in Parliament, saying it was against the Federal structure and every state should have the option of passing their own bill. Now, when AAP government in Delhi tried to introduce Jan Lokpal bill, Congress and BJP joined hands and have been saying that the bill cannot be introduced without consent of the Governor acting on behalf of the President of India.
Interestingly, Sheila Dikshit's government passed a resolution in 2002 (details below) preventing meddling by the then BJP led Central government in the matters of Delhi state government. Now, the same Congress Central government is meddling in the affairs of Delhi.
Citizens of our country have seen a new phenomenon in the recent past wherein parties who have all along opposed each other and their respective policies, have come together to oppose the passing of the bill to bring political parties under the ambit of RTI and also to oppose the Supreme court's directive to keep "criminal out of politics". Yesterday, was another classic example of the nexus between such parties which seem to be making laws based on vested interests who hold their purse strings.
Why did we not go to courts and seek directives against the Governor's order ?
This suggestion is being given knowing fully well, the time required presently for courts to decide on such matters. Rather than going to courts for the next many years, we prefer going to the people and seeking a mandate which will allow us to form a majority government both at the state and the Centre.
Why did we resign without consulting our voters ?
Against all expert predictions, we won 28 seats. Since we did not have a majority and required outside support of, one of the two parties we had fought against, we consulted with our voters as to whether we should take up the challenge thrown at us. In the case of the resignation, however, as we were not able to deliver on our main promise of passing an equivalent of the "Jan Lokpal Bill " in Delhi, there was nothing for us to go back to people with.
Are we running away from Governance ?
Although we have been in power for only 49 days, the Aam Aadmi on the street has experienced reduced corruption and improved governance due to several initiatives of our government a list of the same is given below.
While there are very many things to be changed in our country, our primary fight is against corruption, since it is the root cause of all other problems. We now recognise that there is no way for us to achieve this, being a minority government, with outside support from the existing political parties.We therefore have chosen to go back to people and seek a mandate that will allow us to deliver on the promises we have made to them.
ACHIEVEMENTS IN 49 DAYS OF AAP DELHI
1 End of VIP, Red-light Culture
2 Half Electricity Bills for those consuming upto 400 units
3 Free Water for those consuming upto 20 KL per month
4 Retail FDI stopped
5 58 new Night Shelters added in One month to existing 175 old Night Shelters
6 Ordered CAG Audit of Discoms
7 Transferred 800 and Suspended 3 Delhi Jalboard Employees
8 Started Corruption Helpline No. 1031
9 Started Nursery School Admission Helpline No. 011-27352525
10 Stopped Donation for Admission to Schools
11 Action on Corruption fast-tracked
12 Checked Ration Mafia
13 Rs One Crore given to wife of Delhi Police's Martyr
14 Checked Water Tanker Mafia
15 Delhi Janlokpal Bill and Nagar Swaraj Bill cleared by Cabinet
16 Government Schools given Rs One Lakh each for improving Infrastructure
17 Issued Permits to 5500 Auto-rickshaws for plying in NCR
18 Ordered formation of SIT to probe 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots
19 Formed Committee to devise Women Security Force
20 Formed Committee to look into Permanency of Contract Labour and Guest Teachers
21 Surprise Checks of Govt Hospitals, Schools, Night Shelters and Transport Buses
22 Reward to Sportsmen
23 Bus Pass facility to Students
24 Recruited several Govt Employees
25 Ordered checking of faulty / fast Electricity Meters
26 Registered FIR in Commonwealth Lights Scam
27 Registered 3 FIRs in Jalboard Scams
28 Registered FIR in Reliance Gas Price Scam
29 Simplification of VAT and tax rebate on small scale industries upto 1 crore turnover.
Text of the motion passed by Sheila Government in 2002 :
The House condemns this decision of the Home Ministry taken without consulting the popularly elected Delhi Government. This House is of the view that these orders are in total violation of all democratic traditions and harmonious relations between the Centre and the States. This House resolves that there can be only one definition of the government for legislative and any other purpose and this is the 'Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi'. Moreover, amendment of rules 23 & 55(1) cannot take away what the Constitution (69th Amendment) Act and the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1992 have sought to give to the people of Delhi. This House therefore resolves that the above two unilateral orders aimed at curtailing the powers of a duly elected popular government should in the first instance be immediately withdrawn by the Central Government. UNQUOTE
So there is another point of view, my friends!
For me, a compelling reason to connect with the Aam Aadmi Initiative and spend some time contributing to its evolution, were the strong words of Ayn Rand in her book Atlas Shrugged, written in 1957.
"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed."
 |
| Rajeev Bhargava, Mohan Guruswamy & Rama Bijapurkar |
Further clarity came to me when I attended the panel discussion hosted by the Asia Society - Flash Forecast: Indian Elections 2014 - with Rama Bijapurkar, Rajeev Bhargava and Mohan Guruswamy
Rajeev Bhargava explained that there was a disillusionment with the Congress Party and its allies (aka UPA2). In such a situation in a democracy, the response tends to be to bring in authoritarian decisive leadership and/or a populist response seeking to develop innovative methods (innovation & entrepreneurship). Modi represents the former and AK the latter. The voter tends to oscillate between the two. AAP has displayed populist features. There has been the creation of two homogeneous and antagonist groups. What seems certain is that the electoral arithmetic will see the Congress electoral diminish.
Mohan Guruswamy explained the Golden Mongoose story from Mahabharat see http://bit.ly/goldenmongoose. MG said that in India our system was not working. We were intended to be a hybrid democracy centre - state and local. Representative democracy has remained intact but the direct component has diminished. He went on to say that the concept of a political party was not defined in any constitution save and except in China and North Korea. In India we faced a Clan Democracy, which really takes us back to Mahabharat Stories, he said. He also cited Afghan's clan based leadership from history. When power becomes hereditary, children of somebody come in without paying their dues to earn their way in. In Smt. Indira Gandhi case, she came after Lal Bahadur Shastri and she had worked hard. In India 68 percent are below the poverty line. Irrigation and banking as examples of no innovation. The Mumbai Airport has been built by GVK which carries a INR 23k Cr debt, and is praised by the Prime Minister - but how will it be repaid? In this situation, the antagonist, AK says most are thieves. He says that there is very limited True Entrepreneurship succeeding in India. (see Israel and compare). MG says that quality goods not delivered at a price. Bhanu Pratap Mehta and Shekhar Gupta have commented on it too. Present day discussions on Telangana however -Costal Andhra is very rich with a high per capita income!
The discussion to follow considered the question as to who the beneficiaries of development in India were, and who was left out. Price rise was the single strongest pain faced by the people. Corruption and collusion were predominant and lead to price rise. Ordinary people felt that they had been disregarded. And in this scenario came out an AK who raised balance issues. To try and take politics out of the system to make it work, which is again why AAP representatives are very similar in being straight, swift and sharp.
It was discussed that the Congress, a seeming looser this time around, looked forward to the prospects of a hoch-poch Khichadi Govt. formation at LS 2014, to be in its own long term self interests. Modi's problem was with the Congress. Where as AK took exception with the entire political system and therefore sides with its customer, the voter. With all the schemes introduced over the past 10 years, the Congress ought to be very comfortably in power. But thats not the case. In the gathering of around 180 intelligentsia from Mumbai present at the meeting, only 2 believed that the UPA may look at a version III. Half felt that an NDA coalition would result from LS 2014 and an equal number felt that AAP would make a significant impact on politics, as had already been demonstrated.
What was further discussed was that India had little surplus for capital expenditure, because bits and pieces were thrown to the masses instead of focused large quantums. The vote therefore would be to throw out the Govt. in power. But what is very significant is that AK has changed the rules, probably for ever! Fragmentation by way of regional parties would continue. Whereas Modi sought to reintroduce a national mood, the evidence was not indicative of its establishment. AKs Rohtak-Haryana meeting was humongous (see http://bit.ly/akrohtak off course noted as a continuing success in the North) but in contrast people curious to hear Modi were walking out of meetings in large numbers. Whereas the change in Congress votes was estimated to be small at 1.4%, the swing would favour the anti-incumbents (if I have understood correctly). However no one is risking forecasting any more. All parties haven't swung into action so far eg. 3rd front see http://bit.ly/3rdfront Percentages may change. Concentration of votes in a few states. Prepaid and post paid alliances may be followed up by m&a. One with the marginal votes may change the result. However, the AAP will not align and if its success is limited (NO QUESTION OF FAILURE) would act as a constructive and progressive opposition, which Meera too stated at the Priyadarshini Park last Saturday 22.02.
It is clear that AK has changed the game already. Translation to votes remains a question. AK was writing the agenda and others may die by it as they will find implementation difficult. Described as Shivji ki baraat. All this would, to our long term fortune, change the politics in India.
The audience raised questions. How come good economics did not make good politics, so far? This may change now considering AAPs Socially Responsible Capitalism - is that bad ? See AK at CII with CSR etc. well recognized now.
There was an observation that AAP may not fully disclose its policies completely at present. The tug between equity and growth would determine things. Institutional stability would be important. The toughest job would continue to be to run the Govt. The man at the top must have clear ideas. An example was a past idea of the Golden Quadrilateral to link markets and metros instead of an idealistic Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Somnath to Silchar connection.
Modi's instincts were good but he lacked the ability to deal with others. Money flows included 20% into gdps subsidies losses npas etc. World hunger index only 16 countries were ahead of India. Political ideologies were becoming increasingly blurred.
Republic = a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated President rather than a monarch.
The best way to get a hold on the state was to form groups or Parties. Political confrontation was over scarce resources and their alternative uses, yet good economics, so far, had not been equated with good politics. Sudheendra Kulkarni with a BJP affiliation has clearly indicated his desire to convert low lease rental race courses, clubs & golf courses, a kind of subsidy, to public utility grounds.
Was AAP institutionalized enough (Organizational Development) to Govern ? This was questioned. Or did it have abilities only to raise questions? Somnath's actions were considered far worse than the dharna, in true negative impact for AAP. Counter blasts in African countries had not been considered. AK was not an anarchist. Rajiv Gandhi & Modi both came to power in true situations of anarchy.
So AAP never had the majority in Delhi. Nor was the backdoor support of 8 Congress MLAs and the Congress Governor, anything other than an effort to ensure that the single largest party, BJP, was kept out. See 1 2 3 4 links. But it will take 5 years for the AAP to ready itself to Govern. Having changed the politics of India, it (AAP) was already good for the country. But there is no comparative assessment of the first 60 days in Govt. NOTA is a misguided idealism by the Election Commission http://bit.ly/notaindia But a cartoon depicts late Sh. MK Gandhi selecting NOTA in the present times.
We may be better off giving AAP candidates like Meera Sanyal an opportunity. She is intelligent, mature, honest and by no means wears kid gloves. It has been a pleasure campaigning with an organized person and thorough professional. I personally strongly believe that India needs her. Besides she will have a positive impact on the evolution of the AAP, going forward! It is up to us voters in South Mumbai, to get her into Parliament.
VANDE MATARAM !
Watch these Meera Sanyal on youtube and this.
AK with TimesNow after forming the Delhi Govt. - he made it clear that he did not want to form the Govt., but left it to the people to decide. (DIRECT / PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY)
AK at CII
With Rajdeep
With Barkha
With Headlines Today
Entrepreneurship in Politics
Others
Amartya Sen endorses AAP and makes suggestions
Ninad Karpe
Kishore Mahbubani
Last Elections LS 2009
Constituency Name - South Mumbai
Contestants - 20
Total Electors - 15,89,811
Voted 6,41,571 40.35%
Not Voted 9,48,240 59.64%
Party Candidate Votes % of Total
1 INC Milind Deora 2,72,411 17.13 %
2 MNS Bala Nandgaonkar 1,59,729 10.04 %
3 Shiv Sena Mohan Rawale 1,46,118 9.19 %
4 BSP Mohammad Ali Shaikh 33,799 2.12 %
5 Independent Meera Sanyal 10,157 0.6 %
MORE VOTERS NEED TO COME OUT AND VOTE! A CANDIDATE GETTING 17.13% OF THE TOTAL ELECTORS VOTES HAS WON THE LAST TIME!
JAGO RE JAGO !
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