I am notorious for not aligning with political parties, yet I am speaking in support of the Aam Aadmi Party for the Delhi Elections. There are many arguments in favor of the Aam Aadmi Party, there are many arguments against the Aam Aadmi Party. For me most of them don’t matter. For me the issue isn’t even corruption alone, but the inequality of power.
There was a time I had given up on politics and thought India will sink till it can’t any more and people will rise in a bloody and ugly revolt and whoever can control thug power will end up ruling their area. Flawed as AAP is, it is combating a system I have given up on and is using methods far less worse than the ones I fear are inevitable if inequality goes on unchecked.
For me it isn’t a matter of who paid a bribe to whom or who did how big as scam. It is about the people having authority to speak on what their interest is. Never mind the big parties and big talk and fancy think tanks and fancier explanations. Fact of the matter is that the government’s objectives seem to move on a separate track from people. I my view, this has to change, and at least in terms of stated interest, the AAP is setting its agendas on the streets and settling them by the word of the constitution, instead of the usual setting agendas in backroom deals and settling them on the streets. This is already more than most parties offer whether elected or not.
AAP has been active exposing wrongs against people, questioning status quos of collusions of the powerful at the cost of the poor. It has been going on in several places in India, many of which aren’t even due for elections yet. The delivering is happening in terms of awareness and fighting back the wrongs anyway.
Are they partisan or team B or whatever? I don’t care. If they say one thing now, follow agendas of someone else later, I will like them now and lynch them later. It beats having the supposed Team As directly in power anyway.
For me the most important thing with AAP is the lack of established politicians with established back room deals that violate people’s rights. Even if they eventually turn corrupt, at the moment, they are new, they have no power and they are too transparently committed to ideals to afford risking them. That’s good enough deterrent for me. I don’t do wholesale trust. Particularly not to political parties. I want a reasobable guarantee that they can be trusted to act as promised for the duration I trust them. I am fairly certain that if AAP does not deliver in Delhi, or goes corrupt, no way the combined nuisance power of BJP and Congress will shut up and meekly listen. Not to mention AAP has too much at stake to risk not delivering their promises, if they want to contest elections in more places in coming years.
Also, individuals going corrupt will not be easy in a party where the default response of everyone to an allegation of corruption is “Investigate. Nail him, and WE will bring him down.” Leaders tempted by corruption won’t be able to count on party or relationships to bail them out without considerable changes in the overall behavior of the party, which can hardly stay invisible.
So yes, the risk of disappointment from AAP is at worst them failing to create changes on stubborn problems. Beats exploiting the problems and not wanting them fixed any day.
Nothing tried, nothing achieved. At the very least, AAP simply coming to power will rattle the status quo in Delhi – which is long overdue and desperately needed. That they are committed to non-violence is an important positive in the turbulent times coming ahead as India tries to assert all its citizens instead of a select few.
So yeah. At least for now, vote AAP.
