Wednesday, June 29, 2016

What has Arvind Kejriwal achieved as a politician?

In my view, he has achieved the following -

  • Given hope - that you actually can rise in politics even if you are not the son or daughter of a big political hotshot
  • Provided a mirror - to the BJP & Congress that India is not at all a homogenously winnable equation, and that the strangest of challenges can erupt as long as genuine poverty persists
  • Provided a voice - to the poorest of the poor urban classes, in a political system that has no respect for them except during election seasons
  • Given birth to a new political class - Unknown individuals till yesterday could rise and shine as people's representatives, in a system where it is otherwise literally impossible to do so
  • Leashed the mighty - Love him or hate him, he is the embodiment of the key democratic principle that "People power actually is supreme" and no Party can assume its continued reign as a God-given right

India, Arvind Kejriwal, AAP, Politics, Delhi, BJP, Congress, PT education, Sandeep Manudhane, Indore
Not a pleasant sight for the traditional political classes
In a horribly corrupt and criminalised system, where the sole motive of many who enter is rent-seeking of the most merciless variety, these surely count as massive achievements. While growing up in the 1970s and 80s, I remember distinctly how nearly everyone lamented the lack of educated people in Indian politics. Well, now we have one, with a bang. Let us hope he can deliver, in a spirit of cooperative federalism.

In a vast, diverse, complex and densely populated federal nation like India, even a powerful new idea will take time to show results. Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party deserve their fair share of time.


To all those busy idolising him, or vilifying him, my message is simple - let us not fall prey to the classic blunder of blindly supporting any one Leader or Party. Our loyalty should be very fickle, based on only one acid-test - "Who is best suited to honestly and efficiently help India move forward fastest, as of now". Let us be loyal to that man or woman or Party. Otherwise it does not take too long for Parties to turn into a morass of ossified irrelevance.

Let us keep every single politician and Party on the edge by questioning intelligently on matter that really matter. For we, the ordinary folks, who belong to no Party but India, have a guaranteed future only when we become the masters and not puppets.

Thanks for reading. Have a good day!

A comprehensive, topic-wise and useful collection of my various posts and answers can be found here. Enjoy.
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10 comments:

pushkar said...

Sir i respect your opinion but don't you feel he is just a attention seeker? Supporting even lalu nitish align and condemning each and every step taken by centre.

Unknown said...

politics is politics ..means he was the only one who claims of nice image ..what i want to say is that he all the time tries to show that i am a aam aadmi for that he wear a sweater with number of holes.and wear chappal to show off that i am aam aadmi..i was a huge fan of kejriwal but after my short research i find he lies a lot and he dont have a quality to be a PM ..if a guy is IITin or IRS it doesn't mean he is the only intelligent ....

Unknown said...

"To all those busy idolising him, or vilifying him, ..." lol ; you were indirectly trying to pitch Mr.Modi as the perfect candidate for the present scenario. Though I do not completely agree with you on this point . I rather believe in the fact that we should not hold allegiance to any political party . Appreciate the good and criticise the condemnable . Never fear to ask tough questions to anyone if you get a chance to do so ; because without that gusto you are just a lily-livered political supporter and not a true incisive political analyst.
And all those who are criticising Mr.Kejriwal for doing "Politics". I mean please , ���� don't be so naive. He is a politician and it's not a sin to do politics unless you are cluttering the surroundings with filth in any way . At least what he is doing is not taking anyone's life or someone's livelihood. Though he must be criticised on facts but just using all these third party manufactured rhetorics exposes your political immaturity and shows how gullible you are . :)
Anyway , nice article Monsieur Sandeep ji . It was a pleasure reading it ;) .

Anonymous said...

sir I think that he used anna hazare as a trump card to enter into politics and now he dont even ask him...

Abhudai Pal said...

Well said , he is perfect crusader against corruption and an inspirational personality in indian politics.

Unknown said...

I really appreciate his guts to enter politics in the first place.We should not forget he has been Magassay awardee and an RTI activist. Which proves the fact that he means business. And really has the will and guts to change India

Jeet said...

Perfectly said! He is a revolution in Indian politics; a man with a vision for the people of the countryside. But I sometimes feel that he wants to see the results overnight which is quite impossible in a multiparty democracy like ours where the opposition hinders the development.
Also in the last one year or so, the expelling of Yodengra Yadav (I personally have high regards for him) and the Bhusans was/is a dire loss for AAP.
Saying that, I believe if we have chosen a representative, we should all be with him/her for about 4years without playing nasty politics and then before the next elections we could raise issues/failures. And I agree that Kejriwal should also be given his share of time.

Unknown said...

Sir,
He is the who gives hopes to the middle class family in urban area. Actually his party won confidence of more than 1 core people of India. His ideology against corruption works is working. But question is that
Is he can deliver what he promised ?
and he recently supported to the movement in J.N.U.
What he is trying to do it is not good for future concern.

Unknown said...

Give him sufficient time to prove his point.democracy has its implications in due course of time.

Varun Sharma said...

The most important takeaway from Mr. Kejriwal's rise to power is the re-establishment of the fact that India is a democracy in its true sense where indeed the people of India are not subordinate to any political party or institution and are the supreme source of power. Things like these seldom happen in other countries, even if they do, they are often supported by armed rebellions. Till a few years back, Mr. Kejriwal was unheard of, having no political background. For someone like that to become the Chief Minister of the national capital is indeed a true achievement for all of us as a democracy. It should motivate new 'educated' people who abstain from 'dirty' politics, to enter the political arena and take India to the level she deserves.