Art of Jugglery: Thy Name is AAP

Art of Jugglery: Thy Name is AAP

As r resident of Delhi for many decades, I have seen both Congress and BJP ruling this union territory but when AAP or Kejriwal. won the elections in Delhi, its holier than holy cow image was just a façade to conceal its unbridled ambition to seize and stay in power. This has been exposed in a number of instances. Originally wearing the mantle of making a difference, Kejriwal, initially a part of India against Corruption but exposed his ambition by breaking away from the group to form AAP citing that only political power can help in getting rid of corruption in India. AAP under Kejriwal has risen to hold power in Delhi for the 3rd time on several populist measures. During the congress rule, high electricity charges were a pain point and exploiting this situation, AAP and Kejriwal went on a Bijli Pani agitation and captured the public attention, then fought the Delhi elections to win a brute majority in 2015. What did they promise to the voters in Delhi? What were the results – for the aam aadmi (common man) and AAP, the political party?

I am sharing my experience from what I have witnessed closely as a Delhi citizen. I live in a predominantly middle-class colony in central Delhi. When I shifted here, I found the residents were either BJP or, Congress supporters. However, when Kejriwal announced the freebies– free water and free electricity – during the state elections, this created a buzz among the residents especially after high power tariffs during the Congress regime. Indians love for freebies is well-known from many state elections, where Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian parties had perfected the art. I was shocked by the whispers and talk of giving K a chance because residents reasoned that he sounds genuine. On the day of the polling, I found the usual supporters of both the national parties were less and there were more milling around the AAP stall where the voters going to polling booths are checked/tracked. As I was walking towards the booth, a known resident called out to me saying ‘please vote for our so so, who is contesting on AAP ticket’ and I was shocked for twin reasons – one, this resident was a staunch BJP supporter and, second, the candidate in question was a businessman who ran a successful business and was the only one resident who rode a BMW car. I expressed my shock saying that I don’t like to vote for a party which claims to be aam aadmi but has given tickets to a sizeable number of rich candidates and also, that I don’t believe in freebies because a huge segment of us can afford to pay electric and water bills and should not fall for these freebies.

My colony voted for AAP which won and residents were gleeful that their water and electric bills were zero and non-negligible respectively. Free rides for women in Delhi buses is another googly of AAP which won votes. It’s a different story that the water bills are getting heftier and the water quality is rancid and the electric subsidy is given only for those who applied for it (many still grabbed it!). And Delhi citizens receive these freebies from their own taxes is the catch that caught the fish for the AAP and no wonder Kejriwal, a CM without portfolio has a ‘Smiley’ stuck on his face all the time, regardless of many scams.

– Mani A. Nandhi