In India it is not just start ups in IT which go viral within a short time. A new start up on the political scene the " Aam Admi Party" or the Common Man's Party which came into existence less than a year ago has shaken the political scene. It knocked out the venerable Indian Congress Party and crippled the efforts of the Bharatiya Janata Party 's to obtain a majority in the most important state politically - Delhi , the country's capital, where the Congress had hoped to make a return for the third time. Their seat tally was embarrassingly reduced to a single digit number. The impact of the Aam Admi Party is such that even the heir apparent of the Congress Party Rahul Gandhi has gone on record that he would look at following their model.
This just confirms what I said in my blog of October 18th* " Looking At India Through A Glass Half Full". I mentioned that I was beginning to feel a bit more optimistic that there were changes happening and that unlike the past I felt that these changes would be within my life time.Slightly over two years ago a social activist Anna Hazare went on a fast against corruption and aroused the imagination of the nation. All the young people from across the country rallied around him. His goal was for the Government to pass an anti-corruption bill. The government asked him to break his fast with promises that they would bring the bill to Parliament as soon as possible. However with the tacit support of the opposition parties kept watering down the initial draft and delaying the bill which still has not been passed. This affected the movement's credibility and emboldened the politicians that none of these social activists would succeed, and that they need not change.
The other incident which aroused the anger of the nation against the political and enforcement agencies was the violent rape in Delhi where the concerned authorities were initially slow to respond and highlighted the weak law and order issue. However seeing the mood of the populace , they then fast tracked the persecution of the men charged with the crime.
Sensing that the general public, particularly the urban population was fed up with the refusal of the rulers regardless of their political affiliation, to change their way of doing business no matter what, one of Anna's key aides a former bureaucrat Arvind Kejriwal ( a Magsaysay award winner for his social work) , recognized that he would not be able to change the system from the outside. He decided to change the system from within by joining with other similar minded people and forming the Aam Admi Party. Their elections symbol was the broom with the obvious message that their goal was to sweep clean Indian politics.
While starting a party is nothing unusual , as in almost every state you have strong regional parties.As a result increasingly at the national level, political parties are becoming dependent on them to rule at the center. What was different about Kejriwal's party was the manner he went about raising the party's profile , selecting the candidates and raising funding. During the course of the last year, together with his team, he vocally and visibly supported and drew attention to issues such as an individual's plight, or some infrastructure which was badly in need of repair or the indifference of the politicians of bureaucrats to blatant corruption.This got him the attention of the media and the populace started rallying around him.
His timing is opportune as with the gradual shifting of the population from the rural to the urban, you are seeing a rise in the numbers in not just the metro but also the second, third and fourth tier cities. With the increasing middle class and the lower middle class, they are also becoming more aware of their rights and become more vocal and not afraid to walk the talk.
When he announced that his party would stand for election in Delhi, people flocked to him, not just from Delhi and the surrounding areas, but from all over India and from overseas. They volunteered their time, skills and efforts. In the selection of candidates, he chose unknown candidates but who had clean records and who were active in their respective communities.
Unlike other political parties whose funding has traditionally been opaque , the Aam Admi Party recorded the name and details of every single donor, including those from overseas Indians. They also set a target of Rs.200 million. Once they reached that target, they closed their books.
For each constituency they came out with a manifesto which dealt with local issues. They campaigned hard and used the social media to the fullest extent. Their technology team of volunteers were based in Bangalore.
Arvind Kejriwal also decided to challange Mrs.Shiela Dixit in her own constituency, one of the most up market areas of Delhi. Mrs. Dixit was the the three times Chief Minister and a close confidant of the Gandhi family. Embarrassingly for her, Kejriwal won with a majority of over 20,000 votes. Overall a humiliating defeat for " Shiela Aunty" as she is popularily known and for the Congress Party.
There was jubilation across the country. The victory was significant not because that it was a new party, but the manner in which it conducted itself. The selection and the fund raising was totally transparent. There were no candidates with criminal records.Through their manifesto, they clearly defined what their goals were, if elected. What was also interesting was that because Aam Admi Party declared upfront that they would not seek the help of other parties to form a coalition, nor entice some winning candidates to switch parties, the Bharitiya Janata Party was obliged to follow suit. In the past this would not have happened.
Regretfully they did not obtain the majority , but neither did the Bharitiya Janata Party and there is a good possibility of the elections being re-held.The party has also declared their intention to establish a countrywide footprint to fight the national election due in the first half o 2014.
The stunning success of the Aam Admi Party has woken up all the political parties that it was not going to be business as usual this time around . The country is getting fed up with their continued inability to deliver on the promises made during election times and their unwillingness to change their habits.
Hopefully this time around the Aam Admi Party will get the majority in Delhi to be able to prove that they know not just that they are able to to manage a good campaign, but also how to run a clean ,competent government.Expectations are that they will go national , at least in the key states and will also have a voice in the Parliament to speak out loud and clear against the mis-deeds of the party in power.
India will be watching !!!!
*( http://avib-randomthoughts.blogspot.in/2013/10/looking-at-india-through-glass-half-full.html)
This just confirms what I said in my blog of October 18th* " Looking At India Through A Glass Half Full". I mentioned that I was beginning to feel a bit more optimistic that there were changes happening and that unlike the past I felt that these changes would be within my life time.Slightly over two years ago a social activist Anna Hazare went on a fast against corruption and aroused the imagination of the nation. All the young people from across the country rallied around him. His goal was for the Government to pass an anti-corruption bill. The government asked him to break his fast with promises that they would bring the bill to Parliament as soon as possible. However with the tacit support of the opposition parties kept watering down the initial draft and delaying the bill which still has not been passed. This affected the movement's credibility and emboldened the politicians that none of these social activists would succeed, and that they need not change.
The other incident which aroused the anger of the nation against the political and enforcement agencies was the violent rape in Delhi where the concerned authorities were initially slow to respond and highlighted the weak law and order issue. However seeing the mood of the populace , they then fast tracked the persecution of the men charged with the crime.
Sensing that the general public, particularly the urban population was fed up with the refusal of the rulers regardless of their political affiliation, to change their way of doing business no matter what, one of Anna's key aides a former bureaucrat Arvind Kejriwal ( a Magsaysay award winner for his social work) , recognized that he would not be able to change the system from the outside. He decided to change the system from within by joining with other similar minded people and forming the Aam Admi Party. Their elections symbol was the broom with the obvious message that their goal was to sweep clean Indian politics.
While starting a party is nothing unusual , as in almost every state you have strong regional parties.As a result increasingly at the national level, political parties are becoming dependent on them to rule at the center. What was different about Kejriwal's party was the manner he went about raising the party's profile , selecting the candidates and raising funding. During the course of the last year, together with his team, he vocally and visibly supported and drew attention to issues such as an individual's plight, or some infrastructure which was badly in need of repair or the indifference of the politicians of bureaucrats to blatant corruption.This got him the attention of the media and the populace started rallying around him.
His timing is opportune as with the gradual shifting of the population from the rural to the urban, you are seeing a rise in the numbers in not just the metro but also the second, third and fourth tier cities. With the increasing middle class and the lower middle class, they are also becoming more aware of their rights and become more vocal and not afraid to walk the talk.
When he announced that his party would stand for election in Delhi, people flocked to him, not just from Delhi and the surrounding areas, but from all over India and from overseas. They volunteered their time, skills and efforts. In the selection of candidates, he chose unknown candidates but who had clean records and who were active in their respective communities.
Unlike other political parties whose funding has traditionally been opaque , the Aam Admi Party recorded the name and details of every single donor, including those from overseas Indians. They also set a target of Rs.200 million. Once they reached that target, they closed their books.
For each constituency they came out with a manifesto which dealt with local issues. They campaigned hard and used the social media to the fullest extent. Their technology team of volunteers were based in Bangalore.
Arvind Kejriwal also decided to challange Mrs.Shiela Dixit in her own constituency, one of the most up market areas of Delhi. Mrs. Dixit was the the three times Chief Minister and a close confidant of the Gandhi family. Embarrassingly for her, Kejriwal won with a majority of over 20,000 votes. Overall a humiliating defeat for " Shiela Aunty" as she is popularily known and for the Congress Party.
There was jubilation across the country. The victory was significant not because that it was a new party, but the manner in which it conducted itself. The selection and the fund raising was totally transparent. There were no candidates with criminal records.Through their manifesto, they clearly defined what their goals were, if elected. What was also interesting was that because Aam Admi Party declared upfront that they would not seek the help of other parties to form a coalition, nor entice some winning candidates to switch parties, the Bharitiya Janata Party was obliged to follow suit. In the past this would not have happened.
Regretfully they did not obtain the majority , but neither did the Bharitiya Janata Party and there is a good possibility of the elections being re-held.The party has also declared their intention to establish a countrywide footprint to fight the national election due in the first half o 2014.
The stunning success of the Aam Admi Party has woken up all the political parties that it was not going to be business as usual this time around . The country is getting fed up with their continued inability to deliver on the promises made during election times and their unwillingness to change their habits.
Hopefully this time around the Aam Admi Party will get the majority in Delhi to be able to prove that they know not just that they are able to to manage a good campaign, but also how to run a clean ,competent government.Expectations are that they will go national , at least in the key states and will also have a voice in the Parliament to speak out loud and clear against the mis-deeds of the party in power.
India will be watching !!!!
*( http://avib-randomthoughts.blogspot.in/2013/10/looking-at-india-through-glass-half-full.html)
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