YPOST

Aap on the way of establishing a real democracy

Sadly, even in this age of satellite television and OB vans, the distance between the news capital of the country and the .rest of India seems to be widening. An immediate beneficiary and, ironically, victim too of this grim news reality has been Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam admi party.

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We all know that aap starts their journey into existence following differences between the activists Arvind Kejriwal andm  Hazare   regarding whether or not to politicise the popular India Against Corruption movement that had been demanding a Jan Lokpal Bill since 2011.

Hazare wanted a political unlighted movement where kejriwals main motive was direct political involvement.

 Aap formed  a government  from the conditional support of Indian national government it would pass a bill for a strong ombudsman  position that would investigate charges against political leaders on a priority basis.

 When the other major parties would not support this bill, kejriwal decided t resigned   after 49 days.

 Aap claims that the common people of India remain unheard and unseen except when it suits the politicians. It wants to reverse the way that the accountability of government operates and has taken an interpretation of the Gandhian concept of swaraj as a tenet. It believes that through swaraj the government will be directly accountable to the people instead of higher officials .

Aap are entering politics to change the system: they are aam aadmis. If they find their solution in the left they are happy to borrow it from there. If they find their solution in the right, they are happy to borrow it from there.

“I agree. It puts a huge responsibility on us. We are doing our karma. The fruits are not in our hands. Sometimes, we are scared that if unwittingly we err, history will not forgive us”  said by Arvind kejriwal in a Exclusive interview  in the  Hindu.

 As of November 2013, the AAP is proposing to introduce four primary policies. Like   Jan lokpal bill, right to reject, right to recall, decentralisation. The party has conducted public awareness campaigns to educate people about "right to reject" and requested Election Commissions of certain States to allow voters to exercise their right to reject in electronic voting machines.

Yes, Kejriwal and his AAP have a novelty factor on their side: their politics are changing the traditional rules of the game and total atmosphere of politics. They wants to do something for aam janta. He has caught the national imagination by the sheer audacity of his campaign: how many Indian politicians would call their main rivals "corrupt" by name, or resign when a bill is not tabled, but kejriwal has done this. I am very over whelmed to see   such a politician who has a  guts to resign from the chip minister post.   For a media which thrives on drama, conflict and controversy, he is manna from heaven. Television in particular likes leaders who shoot from the hip, and Kejriwal, in that sense, is made for prime time TRP-driven TV.

 On 23 March 2013, Kejriwal began an indefinite fast in an attempt to mobilize people against inflated power and electricity bills at a house in Sundar Nagri, a low-income group resettlement colony in North-East Delhi During the protest he urged Delhi citizens not to pay the "inflated" water and electricity bills. The AAP also demanded an audit of power and electricity supply in Delhi by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India also supported by Civil Society Groups like National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM).

I heard about an incident that, on 10 June 2014 kejriwal supported the Delhi riksaw pullers, who were protesting the Delhi Goverments ban on advertisements on auto rickshaws. Kejriwal claimed the government's ban was because the drivers supported his party and carried AAP's advertisements on their vehicles.Aap after Kejriwal had been elected and then resigned his position, a union representing the drivers expressed dissatisfaction.

Kejriwal agree that he had won the elections because of the support of the auto drivers, has betrayed them by not fulfilling any of the promises made before the election. Though they are aam admi party so it is their responsibility to aam  janta,also, they have to stands for  support aam admi.

After coming to power in Delhi Arvind Kejriwal announced reduction in electricity bills for up to 400 units, driven by subsidy. He also ordered an audit of power distribution company.

On 20 January 2014, Kejriwal and his ministers staged protests at Rail Bhavan against the Union Government Home Ministry. Kejriwal was demanding that the police should come under direct control of the Delhi government and that officers who had refused to do as Bharti had requested should be suspended. He said that the protest will not hamper his work as he had brought along files and would carry on working from the venue of the protest.

It was the first time in Indian political history that a Chief Minister had protested on the streets to raise his Government's demands for a fair inquiry. After two days, he ended his fast when the Lieutenant Governor, Najeeb Jung, intervened by sending on leave two of the policemen involved and setting up a judicial enquiry^.

It was great that, in February 2014, the AAP tried to introduce a Jan Lokpal Bill in Delhi Assembly. The AAP government stated that it was following all the procedures, and tried to table the bill.

By 3 April 2014, 426 AAP candidates had been announced but the party was signalling caution regarding success, pointing out that its funding was limited and that there was too much demand for local visit The strategy was to field a lot of candidates to maximise the likelihood that it would achieve official recognition by the ECI as a national party, rather than being classified as a state-level party^] from key figures such as Kejriwal.

 We can say While it is true that the oxygen of publicity in television studios gave Kejriwal and his movement enormous sustenance, can we simply dismiss AAP as a media creation. . Critics like Kiran Bedi are perhaps mistaken to suggest that AAP would die if the cameras were switched off.

Thus by the unconventional point of view kejriwal through a challenge to all others parties and thus proved the authenticity of democracy. This has not been seen in independent India that a party’s chief concern centres round the common people and their benefit.

                                                                                           DIPA MUKHERJEE

M.Sc Media, P.G 1