Results of the recent polling in Delhi have proved that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has become the new hope and Arvind Kejriwal, the messiah of the poor and oppressed not only in Delhi but all over India. He has the spark of Gandhi and Mandela in him! The latest assembly elections do not offer positive signs for Narendra Modi even though his party has been given the mandate to run Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Before the elections, Modi appeared a viable and formidable candidate for India’s top job; no longer now.
Why? Because of the emergence of AAP as a major player in India’s electoral politics. The AAP, formed in October 2012, does not have seasoned politicians. It is a party of common people drawn from all sections of society. It does not enjoy the patronage of any religious establishment or big corporations. It is not based on caste, religion or region. Its main aim is to rid Indian politics and bureaucracy of corruption; a corruption that encompasses every aspect of Indian society.
AAP seeks transparency in politics. It wants democracy to serve people, not the politician. It seeks to eliminate corruption in politics by making it a crime and wishes to give people the right to recall their elected officials. It wants public officials to represent their constituents, not lobbies. These are the ideals that more than 70 percent Indian voters under the age of 35 identify with and it is this section of society that supported AAP. They were pitched against the cadre of the world’s most disciplined and dangerous secret organization, the Rashstriya Swayam Sangh (RSS), the fascist ideological organization behind the BJP and other similar outfits. It also faced the rank and file of the oldest Indian political party, the Congress. They did not have an elaborate organization and unlimited secret funds, it refrained from buying votes on election day when iquor and cash all come handy.
AAP contested only in Delhi. Had it fielded candidates in other states, BJP would not have got a majority anywhere because a majority of voters seem tired of the politics of Congress as a party immersed in corruption and the BJP, a political formation built on the bones and blood of thousands of Indians killed in communal rights. People did not have an alternative earlier, now they do. AAP has the capacity to channelize these sentiments in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and could end up posing a serious challenge to the fascist BJP and the corrupt Congress.
It is this alternative that offers Muslims and other minorities an opportunity to identify with. In Delhi, Muslims voted for AAP but not as enthusiastically as they voted for Congress. The BJP hardly got Muslim votes. But this would change in the Lok Sabha elections as Muslims cannot keep themselves isolated from what is happening in the country: AAP would be seen an alternative to Congress as BJP is in any case never a choice for minority voters.
According to Arvind Kejriwal, “AAP has clearly stated that they have never backed the policy of appeasement of Muslims and treating them as mere vote banks but giving equal opportunities to all communities.” Kejriwal has also emphasized on the need for uplifting the community by imparting quality education. AAP leader Yogendra Yadav has categorically mentioned that Muslims have been a deprived community like the Dalits but have been left to fend for themselves.
Shazia Ilmi, AAP candidate who lost by a narrow margin in south Delhi’s RK Puram, has said that while parties were playing the communal card appeasing either one or the other side, AAP was merely playing the India card, which is need of the hour. Ilmi also correctly said, “It can be seen that the so-called Muslim leaders, clerics and even petty politicians are becoming richer by the day while the people they represent are languishing in their ghettos and institutions like Urdu medium schools and madrasas which have been neglected by the Congress to become no more than obscure dungeons.” Dangerous indictment, if ever there was one.
Muslim voices are coming out in support of AAP. Irfanullah Khan, its candidate from Okhla lauded the party’s efforts urging members of the community to vote for him. Another AAP representative from the same region Shakil Anjum Dehlvi, from Okhla says they are very clear about their stand on Muslims that it cannot be treated as a religious group but as a socially and educationally backward group.
These are refreshing words and come as a sea change from the standard communal and caste rhetoric thrown around by mainstream political parties to indulge in vote bank politics, particularly when elections are round the corner. AAP has compelled people to take notice and there is no going back.
