A
delve into the workings of Aam Admi Party
and Public Participation
Aam Admi Party, an Indian political party, formally launched
on 26 November 2012, came into existence following differences between the
activists Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare regarding decisions on politicising
the popular India Against
Corruption movement that had been
in dire need of a Jan Lokpal Bill since 2011. Hazare was of the opinion that the movement should remain politically
unaligned while Kejriwal felt the need of a direct political involvement.
The party's first electoral test came about in 2013, during the
Delhi legislative assembly election, from which it emerged as the
second-largest party, winning 28 of the 70 seats. No party having obtained an
overall majority, the AAP formed a minority
government with conditional
support from the Indian National
Congress. The first point in its election manifesto had been that within 15
days, it would pass a bill for a strong ombudsman position that would investigate
charges against political leaders on a priority basis. When it became clear that the other
major parties would not support this bill, the government resigned after 49
days.
The AAP says that the promise of equality and justice that forms
a part of the constitution of
India and of its preamble has not
been fulfilled and that the independence
of India has replaced hostile
takeover of a foreign power with the domination of an elite political body. According to the party, the common
people of India remain unheard and unseen other than when it fulfils political
agendas. It wants to reverse the way in which the accountability of government
operates and has taken an interpretation of the Gandhian concept of ‘Swaraj’ (or self-rule) as a tenet. It
believes that through swaraj the government will be directly
accountable to the people instead of higher officials. The swaraj model lays stress on key principles like decentralisation, self
governance, community building, etc.
It is interesting to see however, that according to Kejriwal, the
Aam Admi Party refuses to be guided by set in stone ideologies and that they
are entering politics to change the system: "We are aam admis. If we find
our solution in the left we are happy to borrow it from there. If we find our
solution in the right, we are happy to borrow it from there."
We wait to see what future direction the Aam Admi Party takes
and what becomes the scenario in light of the 2014 elections. Whether or not
they will stick to their principles once empowered is anybody’s guess right
now, but if one has to take public opinion as a yardstick, Kejriwal, and his
Aam Admi Party are indeed shaping up to be a strong future contender as a
mouthpiece of people’s discordances with the system.
Archishman Sarkar
M.Sc Media, P.G 1
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