Dream Merchants
India is also home to regional parties. In fact a large number of such parties. Every State has one or two of such parties. The origin of these regional parties owes it's origin to some tall regional leader who died long ago and now his legacy is reaped by others, mostly a dynasty.
A recent example of formation of a Regional Party is in Delhi. It is Aam Admi Party (AAP for short) or Common Man's Party founded in Delhi. While all other regional parties were a product of decades of hard work, the AAP fast forwarded everything to less than a decade. Yet it's connection to distant past is interesting. It appears, ambition is not only a genetic disorder but it is more infectious then flue. Ideology is just a dispensable rocket while gaining altitude on the path of ambition.
Shanti Bhushan
Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India as elected member of Parliament of India was adjudged disqualified in 1975, by High Court of Allahabad in an election case filed by another politician Raj Narain who was represented by an advocate called Shanti Bhushan who in turn was a young member of Congress(O) the splinter parent group from which Indira faction had split few years earlier.
On 25th June 1975 Indira invoked emergency powers of the Constitution on the ground of internal disturbance and suspended fundamental rights like free speech etc. Her action was challenged and came up before Supreme Court in a case titled as ADM Jabalpur case or Habeas Corpus caselxxxviiiADM Jabalpur vs. Shiv Kant Shukla, 1976 (2) SCC 521 in which it was contended that right to life was part of fundamental rights which could also be suspended and therefore a person arrested had no remedy in court of law including habeas corpus. The dedicated judiciary which was managed by brow batting, affirmed the decision.
The atmosphere of fear that existed at that time reminds us the position in Maldives some time ago when it's President assumed dictatorial powers to arrest the judges of Supreme Court and leaders of opposition. Indira had already arrested about a lakh of people by that time.
The lawyer who argued the case of ADM Jabalpur was a young lawyer with the name Shanti Bhushan. While we can now find fault in the sufficiency of arguments put forward by him, but we can not doubt the display of courage by him in those adverse times. After the emergency was revoked, government of Indira fell in elections of 1977 and Janata Party came into government with Shanti Bhushan as it'sLaw Minister.
After the split in Janata Party in 1980 and fall of it's Government Bhushan joined BJP. The fortunes of BJP nosedived in 1984 after assassination of Indira in 1984, and her son Rajiv as leader of Congress Party soared to victory with a thumping majority. The BJP was reduced to just 2 members in the Lok Sabha. Apparently, Rajiv had lead an election campaign on the fear arising from the massacres of sikhs in 1984. In 1986, Shanti Bhushan resigned from BJP.
Shanti Bhushan in his memoirelxxxixCourting Destiny: A Memoir, by Shanti Bhushan, ISBN 978-0670082186, Penguin India (2008). has given reasons for his resignation. V.K. Malhotra, a candidate of BJP had contested from South Delhi Lok Sabha seat and lost to Lalit Maken. Bhushan filed an election petition challenging the election campaign of Rajiv Gandhi alleging that it was contested on communal agenda and therefore illegal.
As per Hindustan Times, political objective behind the case was to replicate what Bhushan could achieve as Raj Narain's lawyer in an election petition in 1975 by way of Indira Gandhi's disqualification that led to the imposition of the Emergency and Congress's fall from power in the 1977 polls.xcSee https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/the-other-side-of-shanti-bhushan-founding-member-of-bjp/story-UZNcjnRgRd3mCIOHBddthK.html
Malhotra's decision to not push the petition had the tacit support of AB Vajpayee and L K Advani (leaders of BJP) which prompted Bhushan to walk out of the party. "To my mind the petition was one of national importance," he recalled in his memoir.
Life was kind to Shanti Bhushan, as a lawyer. In next about ten years i.e. in 1992 he was the highest paid or one of the highest paid lawyers in India. But ambition hounds a person to places where many would not stoop to go.
In 1990'she started a new campaign called "Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reform (CJAR)" whereby he started a series of Public Interest LitigationxciIndian abridged version of Class Litigation of USA in which a matter of public importance can be raised before the court by any person. attacking judicial functioning itself, whereby he launched the career of his son Prashant Bhushan as well, apart from establishing themselves in an image of holier than others.
Interestingly, his younger and brighter son later took a tangent from family adventure and is now practicing mostly in High Court of Delhi. Curious people can google and find out other adventures of other family members of the family but that is not relevant for our purpose here. The campaign for accountability did bring out some positive changes through judicial pronouncements. It did however help in Judicial Activism in which judiciary was now passing the orders which fell in the domain of executive on the ground of apathy of executive to function effectively or efficiently.
Launch of a successful political party requires three things: 1) Money 2) Public heros and 3) Ideology or purpose. As a matter of fact all three ingredients are required throughout the life a party wants to remain in power. Shanti Bhushan provided Money and wrote first cheque for formation of Am Admi Party.
Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, with mechanical engineering as his major. He got appointed to the Indian Revenue Service as a Joint Commissioner of the Income Tax Department in New Delhi in 1985. In the year 2000 he went on a paid study leave. He stayed on leave till 2006 and there was a dispute about violation of conditions of the of leave of absence. Kejriwal paid ₹ 927,787 as dues, without an admission of fault.xciiSee https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/kindly-tell-me-my-fault/278855
Ford Foundation is an American charitable institution stated to be unconnected with the Government (NGO). However in the past, partly due to retired CIA officials acting as CEO of this NGO and partly due to lack of transparencyxciiiThe grants are made in favour of unregistered vague name shell NGOs. Sometime the purpose of grant is also not stated. Even when stated it is vague as best. See this grant page https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/grants-database/grants-all/ of it's funding method, it is alleged that it is a front for CIA activitiesxcivThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the United States federal government, tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence. In other words Central Intelligence Agency is the spy wing of USA.. In recent years N.R. Narayan Muthy, an Indian businessman has also been taken on board of this foundation as it's trustee.
Arvind Kejriwal has been a recipient of generosity of Ford Foundation on several occasion. It may be noted, Kejriwal never floated a formal organisation and worked behind a ghost organisation called "Kabir". The grant made to Kejriwal is to the tune of half million dollars between 2005 to 2011.xcvThere are many reports which reported these grants. See https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/kejriwal-admits-his-ngo-took-money-from-ford-foundation-2-years-back-10340.html and https://postcard.news/arvind-kejriwal-paid-agent-america/
In India, getting grant for a charity is often a front for other activities which are political in nature. This is another grey area which pollutes the society. Before a person proclaims to be a social activist which will lecture the society on the right and wrong of other's actions, it must come clear with it's source of funding. But so far any law which may deal with this problem is eluding. Anyhow, Arvind Kejriwal did not take long to formally plunge into power politics.
In 2011, when massive scams of corruption of ruling Congress Party were starting to come to light, Arvind Kejriwal along with others started a movement called India Against Corruption. A popular Gandhian Anna HazarexcviTo the credit of Kisan Baburao Hazare aka Anna Hazare is retired from Army in 1975 after serving for 15 years. Thereafter he spent energy on his native village Ralegan Sidhi to make it a self reliant environment friendly village. Ralegan Sidhi is located 87 km. from the city of Pune in the state of Maharashtra. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan (the third-highest civilian award) by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others. More can be read about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Hazare was roped in as chief leader of the movement.
Its demand was creation of a Lokpal (ombudsman) who would have powers to arrest and charge government officials accused of corruption. After agitations, satyagraha and good publicity, Kejriwal declared that will now form a political party. Anna Hazare was discarded.
Aam Admi Party
Aam Admi Party was founded by Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan (lawyer and son of Shanti Bhushan), Yogendra Yadav (psephologist), Manish Sisodia (Journalist) Ashutosh Gupta (Journalist) and Kumar Vishwas (Poet) among others on 26 November 2012.
They could have done it earlier but they lacked not only public hero to sponsor them but also a stamp of sincerity on their purpose. To overcome it, as stated earlier the public movement was launched against "Corruption" in New Delhi in 2011.
The team Kejriwal was able to associate famous personalities from left and right, to join the protest. If Baba Ramdev represented far right Hinduism, Swami Agnivesh represented the left atheism. Megha Patekar (a perpetual protestor) was of the left and Kiran Bedi (retired IPS officer nick named Crane Bedi) for the right.
2011 was a time when ruling Congress Party was under attack for serious charges of corruption. It's various decisions like management of Common Wealth Games, allotment of wireless spectrum and coal fields etc. were either under challenge before Supreme Court on grounds of favouritism or struck down.
The agitations against "Corruption" was to become an agitation demanding "Jan Lok Pal" or Public Ombudsman, assuming the states or institutions where it existed, had no corruption. For the record, State of Karnataka has this institution so does the industry of Insurance but no one can vouch that either the State of Karnataka or the institution of Insurance in India is free from corruption. Some wonder if this deviation was aimed at setting the narrative that the money scams in the government were not overt acts of ruling party but were result of omission of Lok Pal. Be as it may, it did not succeed and ruling Congress Party lost elections in 2014.
The agitation led by Anna Hazare was ended in a deadlock with Government and a split among the agitators. The Bhushan group led by Arvind Kejriwal announced formation of a political out fit soon to continue to fight against corruption. Anna Hazare did not support Kejriwal but conveyed his best wishes.
While Prashant Bhushan was perhaps driven by inherited ambition to be a famous name in Indian politics, which was not bestowed upon his father who was (perceived to them) a messiah who took upon evil queen Indira; others were no less motivated. Interesting they all were uniquely suited to complement each other.
On 26 November 2012, the new Party called Aam Admi Party (AAP) was formed with Shanti Bhushan making financial contribution of over one crore. The party was registered with Election Commission of India in March 2013 and thus was geared up to fight electoral politics. The Election Commission approved the symbol of a "broom" for use by the AAP.
AAP claimed to stand for internal democracy, transparency and accountability in party as well as politics. It promised to change the politics of India.
AAP contested the elections for the State of Delhi in 2013 and won 28 seats out of total of 70 seats. BJP won 31 seats and Congress won 8 seats. Kejriwal took aU-turn from his stated promise not to seek support of Congress and formed a Government with the support of Congress. This Government lasted 49 days as the party decided to contest the Parliamentary elections of 2014.
Kejriwal contested against Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of BJP and lost miserably in Kashi. The AAP had fielded 434 candidates but won just 4 seats of Lok Sabha but all from Punjab. This is how it explained it's defeat in election:
"..its support was based primarily in urban areas and that different strategies might be required for regions such as Uttar Pradesh where caste-based politics are the norm. The party pointed out that its funding was limited and that there were too many demands for local visits from Kejriwal. The intention was to field candidates in large numbers to maximise the likelihood of recognition as a national party by the Election Commission"
In 2015 State elections in Delhi AAP came up with an aggressive campaign with tremendous public support. Students/technocrats all wearing it's cap were campaigning going door to door and explaining that AAP was revolution which will wipe clean Delhi of corruption. They just fell short of saying and proclaiming Kejriwal as the next messiah for the masses.
Kejriwal promised free wifi and CCTV cameras all over Delhi, prosecution of corrupt, umpteen number of new colleges including professional colleges, marshals in every bus for protection of women, free water, free electricity, subsidised vegetables and what not. AAP won by a landslide victory by winning 67 out of 70 seats with over 53% of votes. BJP retained it's vote share at 32% but won just 3 seats. However the Congress was routed completely even though it got over 9% votes. Out of founding members only Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia contested and won elections.
At first available opportunity, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were literally and physically thrown out of party.xcviihttps://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/arvind-kejriwal-yogendra-yadav-prashant-bhushan-aap-national-council-246267-2015-03-29 The MLA Kapil Mishraxcviiihttps://indianexpress.com/article/india/who-is-kapil-mishra-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-sacked-aap-minister-4644739/ who was accused of name calling Bhushan and Yadav, in this meeting was also shown the door out of party in 2017 and subsequently he was dragged and physically thrown out of Delhi Assembly.xcixSee https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/kapil-mishra-thrown-out-of-delhi-assembly-at-speaker-s-orders-manhandled-by-aap-mlas/story-bgvABjruCg0CD1ut6YYRPP.html
Bhushan had new problem associated with huge tract of land of tea garden he had purchased in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.cSee https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/confiscate-prashant-bhushans-land-in-himachal-vigilance-report/articleshow/30184403.cms? The matter is still continuing to be investigated under BJP Government, which is now in power. Prashant Bhushan has joined hands with Congress and is helping it to draft it's manifesto for 2019.ciSee https://theprint.in/politics/he-targeted-congress-over-corruption-but-now-prashant-bhushan-has-turned-its-poll-advisor/196524/ The circle is completed.
Kumar Vishwas virtually disassociated with the party after he alleged that Kejriwal had 'sold' Rajya Sabha membership to Mr. Gupta on guptdaan (secret donation). Some of the other achievements of Kejriwal and his party are:
1. It'slaw Minister Jitender Singh Tomar was found to be holding a forged degree and presently is being prosecuted for cheating and forgery etc.ciiSee https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/ex-law-minister-charged-for-cheating-delhi-bar-council/articleshow/65086262.cms Imagine a Law Minister holding a forged degree!
2. It's Minister Sandeep Kumar Minister for Social Welfare was alleged to be seeking sexual favours for official business (making of Ration Card).ciiiSee https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/09/03/sacked-aap-minister-sandeep-kumar-arrested-after-woman-files-rap_a_21465030/ His adventures were leaked on video.
3. 20 MLA's of AAP were appointed as political secretary which was an office of profit and they are facing disqualification for being MLAs, a question which is under consideration by Election Commission.civSee https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/office-of-profit-case-delhi-hc-restores-membership-of-20-disqualified-aap-mlas-refers-case-to-ec/articleshow/63428405.cms
4. It's minister Kailash Gahlot's 16 premises were raided by Income Tax department, unearthed possible tax evasion of 120 crores, 200 land bills, jewellery worth 1.85 crores, 35 lakh unaccounted cash, 70 crores fake loan entries through shell companies etc.cvSee https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/gahlot-search-i-t-claims-200wills-major-tax-evasion-found/articleshow/66199440.cms
5. It's Minister for Public Works, Satyendra Jain's residence was raided by CBI on allegations that he favoured many professionals by hiring them at the cost of Rs. 60 lacs.cviSee https://www.jagran.com/videos/news/national-cbi-raid-at-residence-of-satyendra-jain-v30616.html Later Enforcement Directorate is also investigating Jain for Money Laundering activities.cviiSee https://www.oneindia.com/india/ed-grills-delhi-min-satyendra-kumar-jain-money-laundering-case-2670640.html
6. It is alleged that Kejriwal was favouring his community as all appointees to various posts belong to 'Baniya' community. (Jain, Gupta, Maliwal etc.)
7. The allegations of corruption against outgoing chief minister Sheila Dixit were not persued in court as promised by Kejriwal before elections.
8. Naresh Yadav Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from Mehrauli constituency is facing prosecution in Malerkotla Quran Sacrilege case.cviiiSee https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/malerkotla-quran-sacrilege-case-defence-claims-prosecution-sanction-against-aap-mla-not-under-relevant-clause/articleshow/65673858.cms
9. AAP spent Rs 1 crore of taxpayers' money on snacks (chai-samosa) in 18 months, Kejriwal himself spent 47 lakhs.cixSee https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/aap-spent-rs-1-crore-of-taxpayers-money-on-chai-samosa-in-18-months-kejriwal-spent-47-lakhs/367669/ So much for austerity.
10. Kejriwal's brother-in-law's son accused of allegedly submitting fake bills to the Public Works Department to claim payment for work not done and accordingly arrested and now being prosecuted.cxSee https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/delhi-chief-minister-kejriwal-s-relative-arrested-in-alleged-pwd-scam/story-OCjHVxjjAlQVtXvK76tkOL.html
11. Kejriwal, Sisodia and MLA Amantullah Khan and others have allegedly assaulted Chief Secretary of Delhi, deleted CCTV footage and are now being prosecuted. A special prosecutor shall persue the case.cxiSee https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/assault-case-delhi-court-allows-chief-secretary-anshu-prakashs-plea-seeking-special-public-prosecutor/303119
12. Kejriwal came into power on the promise of a clean, transparent, corruption free government but about half of his MLA's selected by him were facing criminal charges in court.cxiiSee https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/half-of-city-mlas-have-criminal-cases/articleshow/58155501.cms The cases registered against the AAP MLAs related to rape, extortion, cheating, forgery and rioting and 13 MLAs were arrested but released on bail.
13. YouTube users have complied a footage of Kejriwal promising various things and then taking au-turn here. It starts with his promise never to enter politics or contest for office and then not to seek alliance with Congress and to select candidates with utmost care.
14. Inspite of initial rhetoric in 2013, that AAP Cabinet will not seek official accommodation and vehicles, they turned around in 2015 and moved in luxurious bangalow and ordered new swanky official vehicles.
15. It failed to meet any promise of WiFi, Colleges or CCTV or anything. Water upto 700 litres was made free. Electricity upto 200 units was made free. Everything else was forgotten. Fixed charge for electricity was raised ten times and effectively electricity became more expensive. For no reason the water meter were being sold by official supplier at double the price. Allegations were that there was corruption involved.
16. Kejriwal raised vote bank politics to a new level. Any untoward incident or death of Muslim or Dalit anywhere in India was a matter for him to react but if it pertained to somebody from Hindu community, it was of no interest even if it was a citizen of Delhi. Kejriwal was trolled for this vote bank politics, on twitter but without effect. He even gave several financial gifts to a convicted rapist, just because he belonged to minority community.
In substance, the Kejriwal Government was huge disappointment. In 2017, AAP lost Delhi Municipal Elections as also the assembly election on one seat which fell vacant. It's popularity took a nose dive. But Kejriwal showed no sign of it.
In 2018 it distributed tickets to candidates for Rajasthan Assembly but never visited it. Allegations were that tickets were sold for a price. One of the candidate in front of a crowd on live Sudarshan TV, was unable to state the full form of acronym MLA.
The circle was complete now. While other regional political parties, took over decade in exposing their corrupt and vote bank politics, AAP fast tracked it and exposed itself in just about four years of its inception.
A quora user has defined the Arvind Kejriwal as "a power hungry anarchist who changes his stance more frequently than chameleon changing colour"
In January 2019, Kejriwal went to Kolkatta to join an election rally with 22 other parties. On the dias he sat next to Sharad Pawar, a leader of NCP from Maharashtra, whom Kejriwal had publically accused to be corrupt, a few years ago. But then most of the parties which were represented on the dias, were also publically accused by Kejriwal as corrupt. For the election plank of Kejriwal was that he was a messiah who would cleanse the polluted stream of politics, it was the ultimate u-turn.
Kejri is a new eponym which is added to vocabulary of Indian English. Kejri effect means reckless lies in shape of false promises which the promissor is neither in position to fulfil nor has the intention to do so. As in February 2019, he is seeking to forge an alliance with Congress in Delhi to contest Lok Sabha elections but has not been accepted by Congress so far.
There is nothing surprising in Kejri. After all the first act of Kejriwal after coming into power was to throw out those who founded the party namely Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. Later he also saw to it that Kumar Vishwas, the popular poet in public is also side lined. He sidelines every person who could raise question. These are symptoms of an autocrat aka dictator.
All autocrats talk of sweeping reforms and revolution but once they are saddled in power, they become a different personality. Arrogance breeds whimsical action. That is the personality of an autocrat. Let's meet the ultimate autocrats of India. The autocrats who turned India into a big prison.
Leave a Response