I understand that this is a controversial topic and something which has been discussed to death, but certain discussions with my friends has led me to write my thoughts on a blog that I have not updated in 3 years!!! Of course, I continue to hope that with this I will start blogging again Image may be NSFW.
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Before I start writing on the topic, let me clarify that I am no AAP fan. In fact, I am not a fan of any political party and have voted for different political parties in the various elections – mostly because of local factors rather than national. At the same time, I absolutely think that it is important that we get a very strong (and opinionated) political leader / administrator as our PM this time. That makes it clearer for me on who I will vote for in national elections, irrespective of who the local candidate is. And if my PM candidate doesn’t indeed become the country’s PM, I do believe that perhaps the country will only lose its reputation further in the business world and that is what I care the most about.
The political discussions lately have become far more interesting, more so because of a new political party – AAP – because of the strong opinions that the “educated class” seems to be having about AAP. There is a class who certainly thinks and believes that AAP is the best thing to happen to Indian politics, it’s not common to have a 13 months old party be in a situation to form a state government in the capital of a democracy which have traditionally been held by the top 2 political parties of the country. On the other hand, the other group thinks that AAP has made unfeasible promises and have conned the general public in the name of those false promises. And even if they are able to keep their promises, they will have to follow a more extreme / Left-like policies which may not be in the interest of the middle class population and the country.
While, being an entrepreneur, I always celebrate the wins of a guy with the least resources (and hence AAP), I certainly am skeptical about the promises that have been made by the party and the policies which will have to be adopted to even get close to fulfil these promises. But this post is not about those skepticism, that time is over now. AAP is now already in power and the gutsy Arvind Kejriwal will be the youngest CM of the state likely taking an oath tomorrow. This post is about my thoughts on why, overall, I believe AAP winning and forming a government in Delhi is good news:
1. AAP has shown that a change is possible in our political system which was unthinkable just a month back. This will encourage more people to go this way, and will create political entrepreneurs. There is nothing (other than entrepreneurship) that can create faster change in a society like ours, and gives hope. Hope THAT living in India will still be an option for my kids.
2. It keeps every political party more honest than before. All political parties, for once, have realised that they should not make the general public suffer beyond an extreme. The revolutions still can happen in a democratic country like ours. It has happened this year, and it may happen again.
3. It is fine even if AAP fails or turns out to be a fraud. One of the argument many of my friends have is that AAP is a proxy for Congress while the other group thinks that AAP is a proxy for BJP – and they have logical reasons for saying so, none of which can be neglected. While my heart refuses to accept that any of that is true, the brain can’t ignore some really strong facts that are present. Only time will tell what is true – but even if AAP fails to perform or turns out to be a proxy, it still has given hope to political entrepreneurs. Like with entrepreneurship, in a sustained way,the 1st step is to create many entrepreneurs rather than creating a successful entrepreneur – this step is more than required to hopefully start this trend.
4. Shortening the time to make a political career. One of the many reasons why many good people never opted for a political career was the amount of time it would take anyone to even know if a career was possible or not. 13 months is absolutely remarkable and is difficult to repeat, but it again gives hope that one doesn’t have to always spend a decade before knowing if the political career is going anywhere.
So, for me, AAP winning the Delhi elections is the best political news in a long time not because I believe Arvind Kejriwal or AAP will be able to eradicate corruption (though I wish he does) but because I believe that this will start the next set of political entrepreneurs in the country. And if that happens, I know that the country can only improve from here on.
So, Mr. Kejriwal – salute to you, and even though I don’t plan to vote for your party in the Lok Sabha elections, I sincerely hope that you do well and make many more political atheists in the country.
Tagged: Arvind Kejriwal, political entrepreneurs, political party Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
