"Some say I am an anarchist, yes I am", grinned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a dharna in the National Capital on January 20, 2014. Yes that’s right; the Chief Minister and his cabinet (constitutional post holders) were staging a protest in their own state (city-state)! Anarchy is a political theory that holds all forms of government to be unnecessary and undesirable and advocates a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups. Later, the Chief Minister also asked his supporters to help in derailing the nation’s Republic Day celebrations. That obviously did not go down well with the public and soon the crowd was seen thinning out rapidly...

Kejriwal’s belief in Anarchism is not much of a surprise as he and his party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have relentlessly railed against the final Lokpal Bill (which was unnecessary anyway) as it deviates from their version which wanted more power to NGO’s and more dangerously, to individuals with foreign awards (Nobel, Magsaysay, you get the picture).

Anarchism and Marxism are not much distinct from each other as both are vehemently against existing forms of governmental authority, differentiating basically on issues of theory and immediate political goals; the Aam Aadmi Party can be described as no less than a fervidly radical-leftist political organisation.

During the election, the AAP cap and support to this party had become virtually a fashion statement for the misguided youth and others in the National Capital. Non-understanding of governance, administration and the functioning of a political system was a major factor that helped the AAP establish itself in Delhi. Many never understood the harsh realities of administration and expected AAP to waive a silver-wand and fulfil its promises. Maybe, they do now!

Delhi

As women’s safety became a big election issue for all political parties after the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang-rape, one would have expected the leadership (whosoever) to crack down on erring auto-rickshaws, especially as on that horrific night, it was an auto driver who refused to ferry the young girl and her friend and forced them to resort to the bus where the tragedy unfolded. But, as auto-rickshaws were a vital part of Arvind Kejriwal’s election campaign and constitute a major vote-bank, neither the Chief Minister nor the AAP are willing to discipline the auto-drivers.

Today, commuters in Delhi face problems with auto rickshaw drivers who often refuse to ply by meter fare or just blatantly refuse to ferry a passenger to the desired destination. Many violate permit laws and do not wear their uniforms either. It is then that the Delhi Police comes out in full force to the rescue of the commuter and three cheers to it!

The Delhi Chief Minister, as part of his appeasement politics, wants to withdraw the powers of the Delhi Police to check the violations by auto-drivers and transfer them to the transport department. This is obviously a vote-bank play as auto-rickshaw drivers in Delhi have been kept under check by the Delhi Police and do not like it. Confirming the move, Kejriwal said: “All auto drivers of the city had joined hands with us in our fight against corruption, and we are committed to resolving their issues.” The transport department has already stated that it does not have the manpower to check violations (by deploying men on every street), and Arvind Kejriwal, with the intolerance that is now becoming his signature tune, replaced the Transport Commissioner for having opposed his ‘political’ move.

An example of the commuters’ nightmare are south Delhi’s Saket malls where the autos have cartelised themselves into a service that only run a route stretching the Malls-Metro Station-Malls. This is because it is more profitable to run a short route multiple times a day. And this is where the Delhi Police comes to the rescue of stranded commuters; at almost any time of the day one can see people walking up to a nearby policeman and asking for help, and getting it! The Delhi auto-walas hate this, and lo-behold, Arvind Kejriwal rushes to help them.

Once again, the question arises of commuter’s woes and safety; without the purview of the Police, autos will become a menace on Delhi streets. Delhi has previously seen an auto-mafia against whom people were too scared to file any complaint, let’s not return to that hell again.

The AAP’s failure to deliver on election promises regarding water and electricity have been considerably covered by the media, especially since MLA Vinod Binny became vocal about the party leadership, their lies and failures, and held a press conference to discredit the party for everything it took credit for. What is most shocking is the brand of vigilante justice that the party is engaging in. Raids without warrants and mob justice are dangerous trends that create apprehensions that AAP plans to create a type of Red Army where local gangs affiliated to the party would tell people how to live their lives.

In a previous instance of vigilantism and anti-establishment behaviour, Aam Aadmi Party volunteers barged into government hospitals and started to run a parallel administration, without any official orders. The Indian Express reported that at Lok Nayak Hospital, people wearing AAP caps barged into labour rooms screaming away and calling doctors out in the middle of surgeries. The Telegraph reported that Education Minister Manish Sisodia planned to recruit ‘volunteers’ to monitor schools. But who would keep a check on these ‘volunteers’? This is the beginning of the end of the establishment!

Then comes the intervening night of January 15-16, 2014. Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti, allegedly ‘tipped off’ about a drug racket in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, acts on impulse and mobilises supporters to raid a house after the police refuse to do so without a warrant. Not only did the minister (who is also the Delhi Tourism Minister) and his supporters barge into the home of four African women, but allegedly forced them to give urine samples in public! This attack and so-called ‘tip-off’ was based on nothing but racial prejudice in the area, as tests at AIIMS proved there were no drugs in their systems, but the offending minister went ahead and used a racial slur against the women. Somnath Bharti’s antics and vigilantism received heavy criticism from the country, but his party spent an entire week trying to justify his actions, despite having embarrassed the nation and its foreign relations. The Chief Minister himself went on a dharna to divert attention from everything his party and its volunteers (goons?) have been up to in the city.

National Ambitions

The Aam Aadmi Party has made its intentions clear about fighting the 2014 general election and to field candidates in nearly 20 States. But we must ask what are the party’s real intentions now that we know it is a radical-leftist and anarchist set up?

The AAP’s national plans smack of anti-national ideologies. With Maoist sympathisers such as Binayak Sen in their midst and senior party leader Prashant Bhushan advocating a referendum on the Army’s presence in Kashmir and in the deployment of paramilitary police forces in Naxal-hit areas, the party needs to make its intentions clear. While the Government of India has labelled Maoists as the main threat to the nation’s internal security and stability, Prashant Bhushan favours Maoists joining the “AAP movement”.

Recall that Prashant Bhushan went to Tamil Nadu to meet SP Udayakumar, the face of the anti-Koodankulam protests. Arvind Kejriwal is also said to have visited him in 2012 at the height of the protests. Such tie-ups must scare the Indian public, especially now that Kejriwal is playing dirty politics. Maulana Hasrat Ali, vice-president of Imam Committee, Muslim Wakf Board, recently exposed Arvind Kejriwal for asking him to send a large number of Muslims – wearing the skull cap – to his agitation in 2011. This revelation and the 2011 timeframe raises the question – did Arvind Kejriwal always have a goal beyond the National Capital for some kind of coloured revolution?

Just before the Delhi elections, Kejriwal met Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan to seek support to garner minority votes. This is the cleric best known for issuing fatwas to kill former US President George Bush and writer Taslima Nasreen!

In Delhi, AAP waged its electoral battle with much fanfare, campaigning against both the Congress and the BJP, picking up the anti-incumbency votes and later joining hands with the Congress. Thus, a vote for the AAP basically translated into a vote for the same old package that the electorate was trying to get rid of! These antics should serve as an advance warning to those planning to vote for it in 2014, as they would really be voting for an unstable coalition of leftists and divisive parties coming together only to keep Narendra Modi and like-minded nationalists at bay.

During the 1996 confidence motion in Parliament, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee taunted political parties of playing a game of, “Ekla chalo re aur chalo ekla apne chunav chetra se aur dilli mein aakar ho jaayo ikhatte re”. That aptly sums up the prevailing electoral paradigm.

The author’s twitter handle is https://twitter.com/therijuluppal