AAP: Questions and concerns

During the current week (to be exact, since last Sunday), the names of AAP (Aam Aadmi Party, or Party of the common man) and Arvind Kejriwal have become quite well-known among Indian people, even to people who do not bother about politics in general.  The reason: AAP had the second highest number of seats (28) in the Delhi Assembly election. Also, their leader, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal had defeated the Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms. Sheila Dixit, by a considerable margin. The meteoric rise of AAP has pushed Indian National Congress (INC) down to number 3. They were able to bag only 8 seats out of a total of 90. The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) topped the list with 33 seats.

I will not go into the details of the origin of the AAP. To put it briefly, the AAP was launched in 2012 by a group of social activists, each a prominent personality in his/her own domain. The primary objective was to free our country from the corrupted politicians and bureaucrats.  Before forming AAP, Mr. Kejriwal himself was a key member of Team Anna and a violent preacher of the implementation of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Due to a difference of opinion with Anna Hazare, he left Team Anna and formed AAP.

The main goal of AAP is same as that of Team Anna: a corruption-free India. The party is so serious about this agenda that the official website of AAP contains detailed information about its party members along with their individual asset declarations. Although many allegations have been made both by the BJP and INC about the election funding and source of donations of AAP, Mr. Kejwiral and his comrades have countered their allegations truthfully. I don’t want to dwell upon the financial transparency of AAP in this post. That is an altogether different topic.

After the unexpected performance of AAP in the election, Delhi is in turmoil now.  Neither BJP nor AAP have got an absolute majority. Moreover, AAP has declared right after the result that they will support neither INC nor BJP. They will be happy to sit in the Opposition bench. Truly, if AAP had decided otherwise, then their credibility would be greatly at stake.  They had vehemently criticized both the parties during the election campaigns. So, remaining honest to their principle, AAP has decided to move aside, which deserves a heavy appreciation.  

BJP, on the other hand, have decided the same. Instead of the usual age-old practice of “buying MLAs”, they want to project their “modest and humble” image. They want something bigger, so this sacrifice can be profitable during the Lok Sabha election of 2014.

So a possibility of President’s rule is looming large, and if that is the case, then there will be an election for Delhi assembly along with the Parliamentary election. The question is: what will happen then? Will AAP get absolute majority to form the government?  If yes, then, more importantly, does AAP have the ability to rule a state? Can a one-year old party govern the Capital?

Fighting against corruption is one thing but ruling a state is something different. The AAP leaders, as yet, have no experience even to sit in the Oppositions bench, let alone being in power. Will the Delhi people trust AAP this far?  This is a million dollar question which needs to be considered seriously. We should keep a close look at the proceedings. Something khas (special) may happen involving the party of the Aam (common) people.