Danish Aslam · @dan1shaslam
1st Apr 2014 from TwitLonger
Why I Support #AAP
A friend of mine today reacted to a pro-AAP image that I put up with a comment about Delhi. I’ve faced this several times over the last couple of months as I’ve openly expressed my admiration for the work done by AAP. So I’d like to answer that point and consolidate some of my arguments today.
AAP contested the Delhi elections with an 18-point agenda, topmost of which was the Jan Lokapal Bill. When they won 28 seats, they clearly said they’re not interested in forming the govt since the BJP had the majority with 36 seats. But the BJP refused to do so (for reasons best known to them). The Congress, meanwhile, directly approached the Lt Governor (not even one phone call was made from them to AAP) & offered outside support. Following this, the Lt Governor called AAP & pressured them to form the government since the Congress was willing to offer support. AAP knew that this support wouldn’t last the moment anything substantial was attempted by them (Sheila Dixit was on the news the same day reiterating over & over that the support was conditional & could be withdrawn any time). Yet, they decided to form a minority government with agenda-based support.
Out of the 18 points they got elected on, AAP managed to fulfil 16 of those in just 49 days. But the moment the remaining 2 points were raised (Jan Lokpal & external audits), the entire Assembly joined hands & voted against them. Not one single non-AAP member voted for these bills.
At this point, they chose to resign & go back to the people for a larger mandate, because compromising & continuing to govern for another 5 years would have delayed the versions of the Jan Lokpal & the Swaraj Bills (mentioned by Kejriwal in the ‘Asar’ interview with Aamir) that they wanted to pass and for which they were elected. So while they could make small changes, in order for major institutional reforms, a larger mandate was required. And that’s what they hope to get now.
Over the last few months, quite a few points have been raised against AAP by the press & especially in social media:
1. AAP can’t govern because they ran away: Which party in India, once elected, has left because they could not fulfil the promises they made while campaigning? You'd have to pry them away from their seats with a damn crowbar! I don’t think “running away” is a sign of cowardice. I think it takes an extraordinary amount of courage to walk away from a result that nobody expected and from 5 years in power in the nation’s capital. The members of AAP (like the Congress & the BJP & most Indian politicians) could have made 100s of crores over the next 5 years and retired happy. But they chose not to, because they did not want to be another party that made some promises & then forgot about them. And for that reason alone, I think they should be lauded. The problem with India today is that we’re so not used to seeing accountability in a government that the moment a party actually stands by that concept, we don’t know how to deal with it.
2. AAP has no experience & doesn’t know how to run a government: Interesting. I have two responses to this. Firstly, on the one hand, they have no experience. And yet everyone from the BJP to the Congress was goading/challenging them to form the government in Delhi, even though they didn’t have a majority. So does this mean that they were willing to give the reigns of the national capital into the hands of a novice, unqualified party just to prove a point? That kind of irresponsible act just serves to highlight how the politics of power takes precedence over doing any actual good.
Secondly, the amount of work that AAP achieved in those 49 days is perhaps more than any state government could achieve in a year. And I’m not even going into how many would WANT to achieve anything that actually does any good. And as proof, here is a list of all that they did in that very short period of time:
Economy:
· 70% of traders and small businesses in Delhi got relief through the proactive removal of multiple VAT forms that previously only benefited the Inspector Raj.
· Together with companies and Industry groups, the Government created a detailed plan for the revival of Industrial areas in Delhi that were neglected for more than 15 years. An integrated rejuvenation scheme for roads, electricity, water, and metro infrastructure was developed.
· New permits given to 5500 autos, with more expected. Incidents of overcharging and refusals from auto drivers to take passengers came down
· Removed the 6% commission on farmers selling at government Mandis
Education & Healthcare:
· More than 950 government schools were mapped for infrastructure deficiency and given Rs.1 lakh each for immediate repairs over the winter vacation period. Working hours for school teachers extended to facilitate extra curricular activities
· Launched anti-corruption and nursery admission help lines, where bribe-takers were caught red handed and jailed. Corruption in Delhi was seen coming down across the board. Corruption in nursery school admissions was drastically reduced.
· Supplied all government hospitals with medication, many of which had not been stocked in years. Ministers made repeated random checks of government hospitals and clinics
· Plan to roll out more than 100 new or night shelters for the homeless during the winter. More than 30 shelters were made, some using old Delhi transport buses. Private Citizens contributions in kind for this initiative were solicited and accepted
Law, Order and Justice:
· Ordered a special investigative tribunal (SIT) to bring justice to the victims of the 1984 riots, 30 years after the event
· After the central government refused to hold any police responsible for 3 incidents of violence against women, the chief minister demanded accountability of the police force by protesting on the streets of Delhi, sleeping in 4 Centigrade cold.
Water and Power:
· Provided 667 litres of lifeline water for sustenance for households with metered connections. Cost of the project was approximately 165 crores. The Delhi Jal Board reports a profit of 300 crores. Delhi government budget is 40,000 crores.
· Transferred more than 800 Delhi Jal board (DJB) employees, and broke DJB-Tanker mafia nexus. Ordered the completion of water pipelines for which funds had been allocated for years, but no work was done.
· Temporary 50% cut in electricity bills for households consuming up to 400 units of power a month, within the first week in office. The cut would remain for the 3 months until the audit of discoms was completed.
· Prevented FDI in retail in Delhi until it was clear it would prove to be beneficial to the economy and public.
General
· Brought a culture of performance and accountability to government. Ministers and MLA’s worked long hours, often seven days a week, and brought local government officials to public meetings with constituents.
· Put an end to VIP culture- no official bungalows and red beacons and fleets of official cars
Corruption & Transparency:
· Forced BJP and congress not to field candidates with criminal backgrounds in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections
· Ordered a CAG audit of Delhi’s power distribution companies (Discoms) - widely believed to have illegally raised rates by inflating costs and deflating revenues to show less profit. One Discom reported Delhi International Airport as having consumed no electricity at all. Even the high court struck down the companies’ appeal to block an audit of public services. Previous government had refused to do this
· Readied and tabled an effective and robust Jan Lokayukta Bill, which the BJP and Congress joined forces to defeat.
· Readied the Swaraj Bill, a detailed plan of action that would bring accountability to governance at the local level for the first time. A highly respected bureaucrat from Madhya Pradesh was brought in to help draft the bill
· Registered FIR’s against former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to investigate irregularities in the preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
· Registered FIR’s against Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily, former minister Murli Deora and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani to investigate collusion in trying to inflate the price of gas Reliance would receive from the government-owned KG basin wells. Higher prices of gas are expected to sharply increase profits for Reliance Industries, and have colossal downstream effects on transport electricity costs for the entire economy.
Here are links to a few articles about those fateful 49 days:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Arvind-Kejriwal-49-Days-of-Adrenaline-pumping-Will-It-Return/2014/02/16/article2060050.ece1
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/arvindkejriwalacommonmaninpolitics/aam-aadmi-party-report-card-what-kejriwal-s-govt-achieved-in-its-49-days--in-power/article1-1184165.aspx
3. Voting for AAP is a wasted vote: This one really makes me furious. Sadly, the concept of democracy has gotten so bastardised in this country that we’ve forgotten what it means. Democracy is not a race, where to the victor go the spoils. The idea is to have a government in power but, at the same time, to have a strong opposition that questions every decision, checks every excess & prods every ministry to ensure that the country isn’t turning into an oligarchy. Sadly, in India, the concept of an opposition seems to have been limited to chair-hurling & pepper-spraying theatrics on Lok Sabha TV and then quietly colluding with the ruling party when it comes to any issue that might actually upset their status quo and affect their sources of very hefty incomes. One example jumps to mind immediately: the RTI covering political parties, which was almost unanimously voted against by the entire house (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/political-parties-do-not-come-under-rti-act-parliamentary-panel-459786). The other, and more obvious example, is what happened in Delhi.
Another point about having a strong opposition: it represents, perhaps, a minority of the country. But that minority also needs to have a voice. A government cannot function on the basis of exclusion of a minority. Otherwise, you’re just echoing the Supreme Court’s most disappointing ruling regarding Section 377 where they apparently decided that since not too many people are inconvenienced by it, there’s no reason to overturn it!
In the end, the logic is very simple. AAP would not have a reason to exist if people were happy with the Congress & the BJP. The party is made up of people who have quit their jobs, taken leave & spent their own money to stand for a cause. Politics was, and still is (much like the film industry 30 years ago), considered a “dirty” profession that no educated person wants to get into. And yet this party is made up almost exclusively of educated professionals who are fed up and want to see a change. Contrast this with the 38% candidates from the BJP & the 21% from the Congress with criminal records and you’ll see the difference.
What it boils down to is simple: I would rather support someone who doesn’t want to join politics for the greed of it but is rather forced to because he/she has no option left if we want to continue living in this country. If by some miracle, the BJP or the Congress espouse the ideals & the agenda put forward by AAP, there is no reason for AAP to exist. It can quietly fold up it’s tent and it’s member can go back to being proud citizens of a progressive nation. But till that time, I will support a movement that faces seemingly insurmountable odds, simply because it’s the right thing to do.