Ever since the AAP has won 28 assembly seats in the just concluded Delhi elections, there has been a dramatic change in the various stakeholders. The confidence level of the AAP leaders is almost touching the thin-line boundary between confidence and overconfidence. The mainstream political parties viz. Congress and BJP are undoubtedly disturbed to a certain extent, though they do not show it on the TV debates. The third and fourth front parties are worried that there is another strong force to garner the anti-Congress anti-BJP vote space. And the real stakeholder, the Aam Admi of India is vertically divided over the credentials and merits of this newly found outfit.
To begin with, one must praise and congratulate the achievement of the AAP, which is not mean by any standards and is achieved very rarely in India before. They have worked very hard to reach where they are today and deserve the attention and the respect from everyone for this feat.
One thing we all must remember is that the AAP could make such a spectacular debut because of certain factors. The entire focus of campaigning was only Delhi. Tall promises were made, the feasibility and the effects of fulfilling those is still being debated in political and economic circles. Lastly, it was a clean slate with no previous carryover score as regards the performance evaluation is concerned.
However, the scene has now changed. The AAP leaders have started imagining that they have found out a perfect recipe for winning any elections in India. They are now targeting the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in next 5 months. Therefore, they are on an overdrive to enlist as many supporters from all over India as possible. With this, they have displayed their urgency to capitalize on the good will generated across the country. But this would be a tactically wrong move.
The Delhi assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections are two entirely different ball games. In Lok Sabha, the voter is spread over a large area and votes for either a national party or a regional party. It is difficult to believe that in its first year of formation and first contest the AAP expects people to consider it a national party. The national party has appeal because of its history, its leaders its past performance and its current standing. The people vote for the regional parties, if there is a strong regional leader who again, must have toiled hard for years to form an image for him to achieve the cult status. If the AAP believes that they would break these two barriers and pierce their appeal in the voter’s mindset, it is a bit too much to ask for.
However, the real paradox is yet to come. The AAP was founded only to fight against the corruption. And it is, very unfortunately, running a government in Delhi with the support of Congress. So, where is the sanctity left? On a national scale, would they form an alliance with any party which is against the corruption? And which party says that it is for corruption? Even Rahul Gandhi says that Congress is against the corruption. In short, being against the corruption is a too fragile thread to forge any alliance.
The AAP is also constantly in the news these days, for another startling reason. We hear many intellectuals, celebrities, corporate executives formally joining the AAP. Now, how do we explain these phenomenons other than all these ‘high profile’ non-politicians joining the bandwagon are secretly nurturing a desire to become a member of legislative assembly or the Member of Parliament? The AAP has suddenly given an impression among the people that it is very easy to become a MLA. Imagine, when the candidates are being selected to contest the elections, half of the same celebrities who are thrilled to join the party now, will criticize it for the wrong selection of candidates.
One of the factors which would dilute the AAP’s aura is about its going to public for making decisions. While the idea is very noble and needs to be praised, there are certain areas where this exercise can be carried out and not in every decision this method would be good. If the CM decides where to stay based on people’s views, then they are heading for a trouble. Tomorrow, there would be numerous occasions when the AAP is required to take tough decisions like price rise of fuel, increase in tax etc, where the aam admi will never say ‘yes’. What would happen then?
It would have been far better if AAP consolidates its base in Delhi first and then try to expand slowly in other areas. What they do not appreciate is the fact that they have seen people celebrating their victory. They have not yet tasted the criticism of same people when they would be defeated on a national level. That would not only demotivate them, it may come as a dampener for their rising popularity as well.
Finally, they should remember that while they have won 28 seats, they have lost 42 seats in same Delhi elections as well.
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