Tuesday, 22 April 2014

AAP and down...

Political participation is any activity that shapes, affects, or involves the political sphere. Political participation ranges from voting to attending a rally to committing an act of terrorism to sending a letter to a representative.

Evidence suggests that young people have low levels of political interest and knowledge, and poor opinions of politicians. Politics is generally viewed as dull and boring by young people. In general, politicians are viewed by the young people in a negative light; they are seen to be remote, untrustworthy, self-interested and unrepresentative of young people. They are consistently described as white, male and middle-aged, and often portrayed as being affluent and upper class.

In spite of generally low levels of interest in politics, it is found young people concerned with and involved in a wide range of issues. These cover the broad political agenda, even if young people speak of them in different terms. Young people even consider politics as the career option for only corrupt and dishonest people.

Arvind Kejriwal made it there agenda of making India a corruption free nation .

An ordinary middle-class man becomes the face of the anti-corruption movement, fighting for the common man’s cause: Arvind Kejriwal, an IITian. Some members of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement decided to peel away, form a group and change from being a forum of social activism into a political party. Naming itself Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), it contested the New Delhi legislative elections in 2013 and emerged as a political force, going on to form a government with outside support this January. The AAP has changed the traditional face of Indian elections, with the fervour of anti-corruption touching a chord among the great Indian middle class.

The AAP made an impressive debut in the Delhi elections based on its promise of free water to every household with a water meter. The AAP’s major premise is that the promise of equality and justice that is enshrined in our Constitution has not been upheld by successive governments. The common man, who was enslaved by an oppressive foreign power, remains enslaved by the political elite. Drawing on the Gandhian concept of swaraj, the AAP promises that the government will be directly accountable to its people.

The entire nation was agitated about corruption and government inaction on several critical issues. The common man was resigned to the situation as something too large to be handled, but the price rise and high cost of living were major burdens. The AAP touched a chord in every individual who was angry with the system and gave them hope that at last something could be done.

While the AAP has been quick to deliver on promises there are many challenges ahead. First, it is still a one-man party, being carried forward by the charisma of its leader Kejriwal. It is essential to find credible leaders in order to move ahead. To find leaders with impeccable backgrounds and a selfless drive to serve the nation is indeed the first challenge. The second and more important challenge is to find an economic model that will deliver not only a clean government to its people but also a continuously improving standard of living – in other words, growth. It is said that good economics is bad politics. The converse may be equally true. It is a long-term challenge for the people’s party and people’s government to deliver economic growth.

Aam Adami Party ruling the Delhi Assembly came to an end officially on Monday, 17 February, 2014 after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted Arvind Kejriwal government's resignation and imposed President's rule. With the departure of AAP government, Delhi was under the direct control of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and the Delhi Assembly will be kept in suspended animation. Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the President has accepted the recommendation of the Union Cabinet for imposition of President's rule in Delhi. AAP leader Kejriwal had resigned on Friday, after his party's efforts to introduce the Jan Lokpal bill aimed at curbing corruption in high places was stalled.

Anwesha Chakraborty

M.Sc Media, P.G 1

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

Run For The Big Race

Electioneering for the 15th Lok Sabha is slowly but surely on. Though the pitch is still not feverish, yet the power seekers and the power brokers, in Delhi and provincial capitals, see a job on their hands. Permutations and combinations are being worked out to out manoeuvre one another and hijack the mandate. As the polling date approaches most of the countrymen look forward to the results with a hope. They want present Government to go, after what they have gone through the last five years of the UPA-2 rule. Physical security concerns, particularly of the womenfolk, the national security scenario, crippling high prices of the essentials, loss of jobs and general mood of despondency have demoralized so many. Therefore, some hope that spring will bloom on the dawn of 16th May 2014 when a new government at the Centre will take place. However, some are fearful of the events which may unfold post May 2014; on the assumption that no Political party will reach the coveted number of 272 so as to form a stable Government in Delhi. They foresee political and administrative chaos on the horizon. The brazen exhibition of inflated egos , disproportionate political ambitions and the tantrums of the motley crowd of political mavericks and the regional satraps , which will be in display in good measure as soon as the election results are out and they gather in the Capitol, are enough to shake faith, even , of a diehard optimist . It will be a nightmare for the person who has followed the contemporary Indian political scene.

In the background of the ensuing elections, feelings of hope and despair, simultaneously, enter the thoughts of a common man. It is a foregone conclusion that no single political party or a formation will cross the threshold of 272 in the coming LokSabha , necessary to ascend the Delhi throne. So , the nation is for another coalition drama. Past experience informs us that it won’t be a pleasant one. But then looking back to the Congress governments from 1947 to 1967, coalition of varied political views, in the same party , is quite visible . On one side we had certain political and economic policy of Jawaharlal Nehru, Moulana Azad, Rafi Ahmad Ansari , Raja ji , Krishna Menon and some others , whileas on the other side there were men like Sardar Patel, Rajindra Prassad, K M Munshi, Parshotam Dass Tandon and others who had serious differences with some of the Nehru’s policies. Then a third group of equally well-meaning persons co-existed in the grand old party. To name few of them , Jay PrakashNarraian, Acharya Narendra Dev, Ram Monohar Lohia, Ashok Mehta should suffice . Babu Jagjiwan Ram represented the caste element. All cohabited together under the broad cover of a political organization called All India Congress Party. Similarly, the Party had men of extreme probity and some who had no hard moral scruples.

POLITICAL parties have their own distinct ideologies, on the basis of which they draw up their programmes. With these they go to the electorate for garnering support, and do so in varying degrees. When the electorate does not support them to the extent that they think it ought to have, they feel let down by the electorate’s incapacity to appreciate their worth. They wait for the time when the electorate will become aware of the virtues of their particular programmes.

The need for an insulation of the neo-liberal economic agenda from democratic political processes therefore is very real. But this insulation itself is tantamount to a negation of parliamentary democracy. Since international finance capital does not know what the next government would do, it must ensure either that there is no next government at all, or that the next government is so hamstrung that it would willy-nilly pursue the very same policies that the present government has been doing. Either of these amounts to a negation of parliamentary democracy, to a negation of choice before the people, and hence to a de facto authoritarian system. This has still not been achieved in India, which is the cause for Manmohan Singh’s pique. Singh’s remark, that the pursuit of economic policies, whose soundness is “manifestly obvious”, is hindered by a “fractured mandate”, is in an encoded language. The decoded version would say: the institutionalization of an unbridled neo-liberal regime is thwarted by the fact that we have a multi-party parliamentary democracy where the people vote for a whole range of parties, not all of whom can be rallied behind a neo-liberal agenda. Thus the very strength of our political system, the fact that it gives space to a whole range of regional and sectional aspirations, and thereby retains the unity of a country that is marked by extraordinary diversities, and the fact that it prevents, precisely because of these very diversities, a hegemonisation of its economy by internal finance capital, is seen by Singh as its weakness. The strength of our parliamentary democracy, instead of being a matter of pride, becomes for him a hurdle. And that is symptomatic of the authoritarian conceptual universe of neo-liberalism mentioned earlier.

Arijit Das

M.Sc Media, P.G 1

Media: “Guiding Opinion Poll”

Today, Media is acting as a powerful platform and is also playing a significant role in highlighting Opinion Poll. As in Indian context political parties pay more attention towards the opinion poll. Be it any party no one as stayed back. They show a keen interest in every week to week publishing of opinion poll by various agencies and research groups. Keeping in concern parties has their own concrete idea about their focus towards mass audience. Opinion poll is also another platform for them to know the statistics and data. Then the parties plan their strategies accordingly using media as a weapon. Political parties recant oaths in front of media without any direction to it. Be it, Bhartiya Janta party (BJP) or Congress no one has failed to reach media for its proper coverage and also for their promotion which at times turn into propaganda.

As media has its relevance and existence, it also reaches to a large number of people. Opinion poll is also not left behind just because of the coverage its get from various news channels. Opinion poll at time of election is a major issue which is raised and exaggerated. Public opinion is truly beneficial to provide opportunities for parties. They even go through different strategies at same time and parties create controversial news about other parties and opinion poll. Basically it is more factual and its accuracy is preferred more and that it can be carried out in sample and scales. It generally attracts the attention of the person who is interested in knowing about such data. But through media the work has become easier to communicate in a large scale.

Recently there was an opinion poll which was conducted by media where, the former chief minister Arvind kejriwal stated that opinion poll should be authenticated well enough. He even said that Hindi news channels carried out sting operation which indicated a conspiracy to govern public opinion. Political parties are even buying favorable services too. Media which conduct opinion poll should be biased and properly guide the public about its existence and also with full disclosure and suitable example.

Media creates a crucial stage for public poll. It generates a better suitable position in minds of people. Sometimes opinion poll is dominated and manipulated to distract attention of the public. Due to this public cast their votes in wrong favor and change decision as well. Opinion poll influences public. It makes them aware what is the exact position of parties. Media here is playing a role of medium and channel to portray public opinion to the mass audience. Media has power to stand beyond reality. But also change due to some political disturbance and pressure. Media consist of certain laws which make it strong to stand rigid. Influences of parties in media hardly have any existence. Since then opinion poll has is not affected by the pressure developed by politics parties. As media is authenticated the same goes with opinion poll. Therefore media boldly guides and helps the opinion poll to reach with full power and also true in its content.

Arooshi Mathur

M.Sc Media, P.G 1

In a nutshell

It's over more than half a decade after the abolition of princely states, our Indian politics still functions as an oligarchy, where amplified credentials, size of bungalow, nature of security detail, and length of cavalcade demarcate the ruler from the ruled. There used be long cavalcade ( sometimes upto 35 car procession) while our netas move from one place to another. Swanky building to reside for them. Now, post AAP victory at Delhi, some of the change that came to our sight : Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren ceremoniously discarded the siren on his car. In Jaipur, new Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje graciously refused to move into the official bungalow. In Raipur, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh announced that he and his ministers will no longer be given customary gun salutes. If a litmus test was needed for the impact of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) victory in Delhi, it can be found in how political leaders across the land are now falling over each other to show that they're 'somewhat common' too. For once in Indian politics, it has become fashionable to be ordinary. It compelled the mainstream parties to respond and take a relook [sic] at their own strategies.

Holding a broom has never been as respectable and fashionable in Delhi as it is today. Whether in the posh neighborhoods of South Delhi or the slums, brooms have become a status symbol, a symbol of new political identity. Representing this identity is a burgeoning political organization, called the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, meaning the Common Man’s Party) formed less than a year ago. It made history when the AAP not only decimated the oldest party of the country, the Indian National Congress, in the Delhi assembly elections, but also checkmated the march of the opposition BJP. When the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged on the Indian political horizon, the country was stirred by the prospect of young and dynamic leaders cleansing the system. The coterie culture of established political parties has left the common man with little scope for participation in the system other than casting votes. The new party created high hopes in millions of Indians who were tired of corruption and criminalisation of politics.The Aam Aadmi Party is making efforts to introduce more participation in governance by referendums to determine the people’s will and mass meetings to resolve their problems. More democratic participation in decision-making has become necessary in the 21st century, not only as an ideological preference but also as a practical necessity. However, as the AAP’s efforts so far have shown, the management of these processes is not easy. The challenge is to combine more public participation with sound decision-making. The very fact that the AAP managed to attract both the elite and marginalized sections of society in the metropolis demonstrates a new maturity in urban voters who are not swayed by class and ethnic identity. The AAP’s success in Delhi has opened the floodgates in terms of people’s desire to become a part of this movement. Prominent personalities are joining the party every day, including high profile professionals who are quitting their careers to do so. The AAP has announced its intent to contest the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held within a few months. It has launched a membership drive that will take the party strength to one crore in a few weeks.

Arpita Banerjee

M.Sc Media, P.G 1

Is Coalition Politics The Ultimate Game-Changer???

Political coalition or political alliance is an agreement for cooperation between different political parties on common political agenda, often for purposes of contesting an election to mutually benefit by collectively clearing election thresholds or otherwise benefitting from characteristics of the voting systems or for government formations after elections. A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament. The growth of regional political parties has become one of the vital reasons for the emergence of coalition politics in India. India has a multi-party system, where there are a number of national as well as regional parties. A regional party may gain a majority and rule a particular state. If a party represents more than 4 states then such parties are considered as national parties. In the years since India's independence, India has been ruled by the Indian National Congress (INC) for 48 of those years. The party enjoyed a parliamentary majority barring two brief periods during the 1970s and late 1980s. This rule was interrupted between 1977 to 1980, when the Janata Party coalition won the election owing to public discontent with the controversial state of emergency declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Janata Dal won elections in 1989, but its government managed to hold on to power for only two years. Between 1996 and 1998, there was a period of political flux with the government being formed first by the right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followed by a left-leaning United Front coalition. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance with smaller regional parties, and became the first non-INC and coalition government to complete a full five-year term. The 2004 Indian elections saw the INC winning the largest number of seats to form a government leading the United Progressive Alliance, and supported by left-parties and those opposed to the BJP.

Coalition politics has come to stay in India but by using the coalition

methods, the major political outfits continue to loot the nation’s resources aided by various agencies. Coalition politics should have helped the system work better and people to work and live better. But, unfortunately, it has increased the levels of corruption. No party should field more than 50% of the total seats the coalition wants to contest. Now the practice is in favor of the major political party that leads the coalition to field as many seats as possible, leaving remaining seats for others to share. Obviously, the main party gains more seats after the poll. A major party like Congress party and BJP have decided to go for coalition in polls as a policy because they are not sure of winning the seats on their won necessary to form the government and with the help from other parties they could form the ministry. In the process, what is happening are the main parties exploiting other parties to garner votes and seats in the parliament and state

assemblies. Hence the Election commission must stipulate the maximum number of seats a party in a coalition can contest and the number of cabinet positions after the poll when form the government.

With the congress sure to lose in the General elections, the only way it can remain in the public eye is by ensuring a split verdict and actively supporting the formation of a weak coalition government which will result in chaos and instability and allow the Congress to catapult itself back on to the political centre stage. The electoral verdicts in last few general elections and state elections have made it amply clear that Indians opt for stability over chaos. The fractured mandate of the 1990s is a thing of the past. India suffered much during those unstable regime changes and frequent elections. The only non-Congress party that could provide stability was the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Now, we seem to be firmly in an era of a two party/alliance system. The Congress led UPA and the BJP led NDA are the two choices a voter must choose from unless they want a replay of the terrible experimentation with the Third Front with precarious numbers in Parliament. Before every general election, like clockwork, regional satraps not allied with either the Congress or BJP begin speaking about a Third Front or a secular front. Mamta Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) is proposing something called a federal front. Whatever you call it a third front is another name for instability and confusion. The only reason it is important to evaluate and consider the option of a Third Front before the elections is because there is a strong possibility that the Congress might prop up a raggedy tag bunch to usher in chaos and upheaval. Each minister has done his best to touch rock bottom. Finance minister P.Chidambaram oversaw the tanking of the economy and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid famously called the Chinese incursions mere ‘acne’ on the face of India. I have no doubt that when the history of independent India is written, the 10 years of UPA rule will be called a dark decade , a decade of lost hopes and squandered promises.

Without a doubt, the star under-performer of this dark decade is Defense Minister AK Antony. His incompetence in office has cost India dearly and defense preparedness has hit rock-bottom. While everyone knows of the landmine of the ailing economy set up by the Congress for the next government to step into as soon as it assumes office, defense preparedness is at best an unknown which many suspect might be a bigger and more dangerous ticking bomb. One would think the much touted ‘cleanest minister’ of the UPA government would be shattered by the series of unexpected and unavoidable incidents that have plagued the armed forces recently. However, hours after the tragic crash of the C-130J Hercules aircraft in Gwalior where 5 air force officers were killed, Antony surfaced not to talk about the crash but about a ‘new secular front’ to keep the BJP out of power. He was quoted by newspapers as saying, “After the elections, several parties which are not ready to join hands with the Congress will have to rethink to avoid the danger of bringing the BJP to power.”Right after the crash the Defense minister only had politics in his mind and instead of defense strategy he could only strategize on keeping the BJP out of power. It is important to look at what Antony said and why voters must analyze this seriously. The Congress is certain that they will not win this election or even end up as a single largest party. All indicators suggest that the Congress is fast hurtling down to its lowest number ever in the Lok Sabha. The Congress is resigned to this reality which is why their election campaign is insipid, lackluster and sans enthusiasm. A tired campaign strategy led by a reluctant non-achiever will not score very high in the electoral battle. After a decade in power, Congress has made peace with the fact that they will not be voted into office again, but they are certainly going to fight to ensure a split verdict. A split verdict will result in chaos and Congress will benefit the most from this. The Congress this time is not fighting the 2014 elections to win but to ensure that on May 16, the nation sees a fractured mandate. The Congress realizes that a Narendra Modi led BJP government, once voted in, will be here to stay. Only Modi can deliver stability and good governance in the current scenario. With years of administrative experience, he will certainly hit the ground running. Standing on the twin pillars of development and good governance under Modi’s leadership India has a good chance of recovering from the terrible Congress rule of the last decade. So it may not be easy to dislodge the Modi government and the Congress will fast disappear into oblivion once the fruits of effective governance reach people. To save the party from vanishing from the political field, Sonia Gandhi must ensure a weak coalition government of regional satraps who will be plagued by lack of leadership and vulnerability due to precarious numbers in the Lok Sabha. This arrangement will suit the Congress to catapult itself into the centre stage within a year or so. The Congress would like a repeat of the disastrous Janta party experiment of 1977 or the VP Singh government of 1989.If this reminds you of a certain Arvind Kejriwal, don’t be surprised as history does have an uncanny ability to repeat itself. If opinion polls are even remotely accurate this is the first time the Congress will lose to a candidate who has decidedly better resume than their Prime Ministerial candidate. Not only so this is the first time the Congress will lose not only for negative voting but also because of an immensely positive vote for Narendra Modi. Going by the mood of the nation voters are tilting towards Modi because of some tangible promises. Moreover this is the first time phrases like “minimum government” and “maximum governance” has been heard. Empowerment not doles, jobs not quota are some of the big ideas being communicated to people.

All this goes against the DNA of the Congress. To maintain relevance it will have no choice but to prop up two-bit leaders and actively support the formation of an anti-BJP front in the name of secularism. A fractured mandate will give the Congress room for manipulations and backroom deals. A fractured verdict will mean a fractured India. This split verdict will bring untold misery and dash the hopes of Indians. So it is time the people of India vote out cynicism and vote for hope and stability with decisive mandate.

An important issue that comes up in this context is whether coalitions have indeed weakened our ability to govern. It is true that a government formed by a single party majority can take significant decisions more easily than in a coalition situation. In a coalition situation governments are forced to build consensus among the allies. In theory to the extent that these efforts at consensus building are debated on the merits of the issues involved, coalition governments are actually healthy. However the perceptions that these negotiations amongst allies sometimes amount to unhealthy and unethical quid-pro-quos is gaining around.

If we as a nation are likely to live with coalition politics, there are some important issues we need to consider. We need a massive push for enforceable ethics reforms among political parties, how parties raise funds how much of it needs to be transparent and other related issues. As a country, we can’t wait for a chance discovery of an oasis in the desert to save us. This needs a concerted effort of citizens from across the country to push for higher standards in public life.

Debarima Banerjee

M.Sc Media, P.G 1

AAP- “THE WAYWARD DREAM”

People’s participation in democracy strives to create opportunities for all members of a population to make meaningful contributions leading to decision-making and acts as an eye-opener to broaden the people’s mind. Similarly, the emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has created an upsurge and revolution in the history of Indian democracy.

The Indian political party, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founded in 26^th Nov, 2012 emerged with the goal to fight against corruption entrenched in Indian politics. A large group headed by Arvind Kejriwal felt the need to have a direct political movement in order to fight against corruption. The party believed in the ideology that the common people of India remains unheard and unseen what it suits the politicians. So, he wanted to reverse the way that the accountability of government operates and that all the people gets an opportunity to participate in politics with laying stress on self-governance and community building.

According to Kejriwal as he says that “We are aam aadmis”, it stresses on the fact that the suffering of the common people at the hands of government officials and the system will go away if people get actively involved in politics. The party decided to approve the symbol for ‘broom’ for use in that campaign. The AAP has brought a revolution in India after 1947, which brought change in the way the politics is conducted in the country. Today, the people are enjoying their real freedom. For the first time, in India, a real democracy of the people and by the people has been established.

The AAP has done some successful works which are to be noted that it has promised to reduce electricity bills and give away free water which have motivated many politicians. The party has turned out to be a “game changer” in Indian Politics when it captured the absolute majority in Delhi Assembly winning 28seats in the 70- member house by side tracking both the two important national parties, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This spectacular electoral performance in Delhi elections has brought every political party in surprise who had not taken it seriously at all. The oath-taking of Arvind Kejriwal amidst a sea of supporters in the Ramlila Maidan and a large group of people showing interest in joining the AAP has woken up the Congress and BJP to the perils of ignoring this new player.

Addressing at a press conference in the village, Ralegan Siddhi, Anna Hazare has said that, “Kejriwal has a clean record and has a will to do something good for the country.” Based on the past records, the fledging of AAP, born from the crucible of the anti-corruption movement has generated a new kind of energy and hope in the country which had never been witnessed before. The people have accepted the leadership of AAP because of their defiant attitude for their fight against rampant corruption of recent times such as “Common Wealth Games, Coal Black distribution, 2G Scam, etc.”

However, AAP is yet to be an organized party for fullest participation in Indian democratic structure. One of the supporters of AAP, Yogendra Yadav said he had never this kind of meteoric rise and endorsement of the party in a short time span.

Now the question arises, “Does Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP has a brighter future aspect or not??” Predicting the future is an extremely dangerous exercise in Indian politics, especially in a country like India where a large number of variables play a bigger role. It fixes Congress and BJP and threatens to affect regional parties. AAP has no doubt created a storm in the Indian politics, but it is doubtful whether their ability of sustenance in Indian politics in near future will stay or not.

It is uncertain what fate awaits the AAP in future, but it has certainly unnerved India’s political parties. Running a government is not an easy task as being a party of perpetual opposition to everything. At present, AAP is Teflon-coated with its supporters, and no amount of media questioning will change that. It is now in the growth phase. Yet, its long-term future is far from secure. If it does well in the Lok Sabha elections then it will be possible to achieve everything impossible. Thus, the new kid on the block is riding high and is likely to stay there for a longer period.

- Debasmita Banerjee
Msc. Media Science, P.G 1