26 December 2013, 06:04 PM IST
I have been busy. Not the as usual "busy", but as the posh socialite would say, "busy, busy". The last couple of weeks have been an incredible whirl of meetings, long discussions and calls. It is very rare for a political event to resonate with my other fascination – entrepreneurship. But I believe we just witnessed the beginning of a remarkable experiment in political entrepreneurship in these last few weeks. We have witnessed the birth of a political start-up, the first for anyone below 40 in India.
The start-up is of course Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Like many others who have been involved in political activism, I had been closely tracking AAP since its formation last November. But to be honest, I did not think it would be anywhere close to making a profound impact. Around late August-early September, I began to change my views. By October, I was convinced that the group is going to make a fairly significant impact in the elections in Delhi.
But what happened on 8th December was beyond belief. It was simply spectacular.
As I wrote on my facebook page, "..we are witnessing a "grand experiment unfold before us..We are fortunate to be around in these times and fortunate to witness this amazing dance of the world's largest democracy first-hand..
More fortunate are those who are participating in this directly...Over the next few days (or at most a few weeks), I will have to make a decision too - whether to be one of the audience cheering from the sidelines or to take the plunge and join the chorus!
I have now decided to take the plunge – and be an active participant in the chorus. I have formally applied for membership of AAP."
I have made this decision fully aware of our differences; fully aware that convergence of views will be a long drawn process; fully aware that some might view this as a "betrayal". I am going to try and not get distracted by the barbs that are sure to follow, the questioning of motives, the innuendos, the insinuations and the sarcasm. The "perfect" is the enemy of the "good". For now, I have decided to be on the side of "good".
AAP is where the grand "political experiment" is happening. In times like these, there are few places where I would rather be than here. In this experiment, AAP has successfully managed to challenge the "rules of the game" – and long established truisms of current-day politics in India. The notion of "win-ability", of caste arithmetic, of "vote banks" or money and muscle power. This out to be celebrated – for the same reason I celebrated Shashi Tharoor's win three years back even though he won on a Congress ticket. AAP has given an entire generation hope. And I think everyone who wishes for change in India must seriously consider engaging with this new experiment as it unfolds.
We are fighting the larger war here and I believe it is important for the good forces to consolidate. The two "mainstream" parties have been practically indistinguishable in terms of campaign tactics, strategies and candidates. Caste arithmetic, well-timed sops and grand announcements continue to define campaigning. Candidate selection remains opaque. Money flows freely. I experienced all of this (and more), first-hand in the recent assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. The usual justification for all this is: "This is how politics is done in India."
And even though Sh Modi is trying hard to change this, his fight with the "establishment" in BJP is far from over. I remain - as before – extremely skeptical of BJP's ability to change at the fundamental level (beyond a change at the top).
AAP has just shown us all another way of doing "politics". As with most political parties, I am sure it's policies will evolve with time. And I believe the direction they take is more likely to be influenced by "insiders" than those outside the party. I hope I can be one of the "insiders".
These are risks I am conscious of, risks I am taking on willingly, particularly since I see little hope in any of the incumbent "mainstream" parties to undergo radical transformation. And little prospect of any of the emerging groups making a significant impact in the near term.
As for the BJP, in spite of Sh. Modi, my publicly stated opposition to its "collusion" with the rotten system remains in place. The big difference between my stance in July and today is that instead of "one man" who has a fighting chance of making Congress history, today we have two. One remains the front-runner to lead India. It is time to work with the other. Time for the good forces to converge and find common ground rather than argue about policy matters (on which differences exist). Time to join hands in our common quest for a "different" kind of politics. Time to prepare together for the "Long War".
In the end, AAP's focus on challenging the rotten system is reason enough for me to work with them, regardless of all our other differences. Over the next few days and weeks, as I begin to engage with the party, I hope the contours of my involvement will become clearer. For now, I am excited to embark on this journey. Stay tuned! Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
Track me on Twitter @SatyamevaJayate
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
The Birth of a Political Start-up & Taking the Plunge..
Dengan url
http://osteoporosista.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-birth-of-political-start-up-taking.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
The Birth of a Political Start-up & Taking the Plunge..
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
The Birth of a Political Start-up & Taking the Plunge..
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar