Monday, December 22, 2014

AAP Beeti: How my opinions about the Aam Admi Party changed

Hell hath no fury like vengeance for trust breached!!
I once had faith in Mr. Kejriwal, I roamed Delhi streets during the "Main Bhi Anna" euphoria. Attended AAP meetings, hosted AAP volunteers at my place with chai-biscuit.
I had hoped that this simple looking, tiny man, an IITian and IRS will be professional in his dealings, systematise political recruitment and come up with a techno-centric egalitarian scientific ideology. I sincerely believed he had it in him, I believed the little man was a giant leap for Indian politics.
The first jolt was one of his party meetings chaired by Gopal Rai, the activist who is not a maoist because he can't physically carry a gun. I observed sitting in the crowd how Mr Rai shut off a couple of volunteers voicing dissent. They had a very simple grievance. It was about an office holder not co-operating, if I remember correctly. I could smell the stench of liquor too when some attendees talked in a group but I did not make it an issue for myself. I convinced myself that men of diverse backgrounds have gathered here.
The next breach of faith was when I met a guy who later got a ticket to contest the Vidhan Sabha elections. He was a glib talker but devoid of insight, far-sight, hindsight... any sight. He was not a graduate, in his late 20s, unemployed but drove AAP bigwigs around in his sedan. True to expectations ( which had later crystallized), later the actually hard working volunteers were jacked off and this guy got the ticket. It challenged my dignity to support a person like that, and hurt my conscience to knowingly subject people to a candidate like him. Later when I came to know about other candidates, many of them had similar profiles.
There was a lot of internal bickering, nobody had any clue what to do next, so everyone bitched about someone else. The Kaushambi office was the center of all power. Professionally, I had been in a managerial role before that and with everything I had learnt till then, this was pathetic, haphazard, unscientific, arbitrary management from a man from whom the exact opposite was expected. It wasn't even management, it was "be the God, feed the Dog" kind of a regime.
There were lots of meeting lots of sloganeering, singing, clapping and speeches. No fruitful discussions though. If there were any, they were monopolized. The speeches left you with a rotten gut. There was so much cynicism, conspiracy and pain in them that one would feel as helpless as a man with AIDS, TB and Cancer together. The man is also an addict craving for his heroin, but so poor he can't buy a cup of tea, his kids diss him, his wife is having affairs with all neighbors, the dog on the street wants to kill him and the crow on the roof is waiting for the dog to kill him... all of this put together!! And Mr. Kejriwal seemed to be the only one possessing a magical antidote.
I receded thereafter. I made excuses to not meet the volunteers, but kept getting updates. None of these were good. They were either about protests in some corner of Delhi or one person bitching about another. I stopped taking and making calls too.
Some aloofness gave me space to think. I realized how hard running socio-political organizations is. Everyone cannot be regulated. Some amount of corruption and deviance is inevitable, what matters is how it is dealt with. Even when complaints come up, one cannot be sure who's right and what is wrong. There's a perennial conflict between organization integrity, morale of participants and the need to be responsive to grievances. I realized that with these limitations, without an all powerful center, the BJP had done quite a wonderful job bringing up a mammoth organization, with all organs of the then power structure against them. Where a tiny organization like AAP was faltering, BJP stood the test of time. The Modi magic was yet to begin!
The final nail in AAP's coffin, as far as my affections go, was Kejriwal's position on the Batla House encounter. He was the last good thing that made me hopeful about AAP. It became too much for me to take after Kejriwal showed his true colors. He substantiated the reason for my lost faith and proved my decision right over and over again.
His simplicity has since degenerated into unhygienic filth. His politics is communal with a minoritarian bias. He is using every single trick for which he blasts others. There have been enough revelations about him, for even mildly thoughtful people to not like him. As if this wasn't enough, he gave us the biggest turn-off with the people who keep his company, and those whom he attracts. In the patriarchal realm of vices, hypocrisy, lies, self-assumption, selfishness and anti-nationalism castrated themselves to enter Mr. Kejriwal's harem out of sheer reverence.
I'm realize that the directness and unrestrained nature of this post can be distasteful to many, but as of now, I physically hate the man and his organization. I can't stand the sight of him, can't tolerate the sound of his voice and absolutely hate his self-righteous position on every issue. I would perhaps, not have been this bitter if I had not trusted him once.