Paach Saal Kejriwal

I had written this in the December of 2013, but never published. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then...but some questions are worth pondering. Congratulations, Kejriwal!

Two years ago when Anna Hazare started the unprecedented movement on the Lokpal Bill, it shook the political class. However, Anna put a fight by staying outside of the framework of the constitution. He asked government what to do, and what he wanted. When political aspirations bubbled up, there was a vertical split in Anna's team. It was an interesting event. Many a leaders in India have preferred to stay outside of the ambit of the constitution, namely Bal Thackeray and even Mahatma Gandhi.

If you want to change the system, do you do it by being a part of the system or do you dictate it by being outside of the system? Quite a conundrum.

Kejriwal and Anna may have taken different paths, but Kejriwal made it clear, that if he wanted to change the system, he was going to do so by being a part of the system. Events lead to an intriguing name to the party, but it was unclear what would the party do for people. In his early days, Kejriwal only resorted to mudslinging and unproved, unprovoked charges against the who's who, once again shaking the political class.

The political class needed a shake up indeed. And Kejriwal once again proved that he could, by accounting for every penny that came as donation to his political party.

What happened after elections is unprecedented though.

In a Westminster style democracy, the ruling party needs simple majority to form the government. No one in Delhi got it. Because of the circumstances, no one wanted to stake the claim and naturally, Kejriwal was mocked for being short of majority!

What Kejriwal did after that is amusing though. He went back to people with a referendum like approach. When he got the so-called green signal, how did it change the need to have simple majority in the legislature? Well, it did not. Kejriwal's government is still at a mercy of a confidence motion and therefore Congress party. What happens after the 2014 general elections is anybody's guess.

Speaking of governance, Kejriwal seems to support strong socialistic principles. What logic is used in halving the power tariff? Kejriwal needs to logically explain this. Why promise free water, when the real need is actually equitable distribution and curtailing wastage. What are Kejriwal's views on the latter?

While the above two at least adhere to socialistic principles, what about the regularization of the unauthorized colonies? Isn't it like lapping up to the builder lobby and creating a vote bank among the squatters? It is also directly condoning the erring officers who let the unauthorized buildings come up and did not remove squatters in time before they became either a problem or a vote bank.

More unanswered questions: If Kejriwal intends to install a referendum based democracy, how does he plan to do it? It is not only the technology usage, but the constitutionality of the exercise that is in question. Mohalla Sabha is fine, but who defines the accountability there? And if everything is going to be referendum based, do we do away with the legislature?

Unlike the UK, India does not follow a system of shadow cabinet. Hence, it was not necessary that Kejriwal actually become the chief minister. However, that is one question, Kejriwal did not ask in a referendum. He did not ask a similar question about who else will/should be the minister in his cabinet. So much about referendums and direct democracy!

Kejriwal's plan for rooting out the corruption is also not clear. But among the pall of gloom and despair, Kejriwal has brought a glimmer of hope. Here are some of the things people can ask be changed:

1. Information on donations to political parties be available in public domain.
2. Also, bring the political parties under financial accountability similar to the companies law.
3. No special privileges to members of parliament or legislature or ministers in terms of red beacons, free accommodation, free phone calls etc.
4. Income Tax returns of every elected member and his/her immediate family be available in public domain. And last but not the least,
5. The bureaucracy is as much responsible for corruption as the political class. Hence any privileges or facilities that they enjoy need to be reviewed as well.

But coming back to Kejriwal, will he survive after the general elections of 2014? And will he be able to do what he wants, for the lack of majority and the clutches of Congress support? If his experiment with governance does not work, then the larger political parties will only take advantage of his failures and deprive the common man any respite politically.

After Kejriwal succeeds, at the end of his term though, he will have changed the political class, and India's polity forever.