Alex Garland’s 1996 novel The Beach, also made into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, had a fascinating plot. It revolved around idealistic people setting up a secret island paradise in Thailand. The island, hidden from modern civilisation, was designed to be a society based on equality, love and trust. Those living there shunned materialistic greed and everything wrong with modern life.
Things seem wonderful to start with. However, the island slowly degenerates. Issues such as formation of factions, differences of opinion, power politics and betrayals surface. Eventually the paradise, despite its clear blue water and powdery beaches, becomes a violent hell. The lesson is simple — where there are humans, there can be no paradise.
And now, we see the same situation in AAP. The political party that seemed created from the nectar of the gods is now afflicted with the ugliest human traits — mistrust, greed, ego, impatience and vengefulness.
This is not meant to criticise AAP. In fact, i find AAP today far more honest and real than the righteous nonsense peddled earlier. I also feel AAP’s prospects are brighter than they were before this crisis. People who helped AAP take form — the NGO types, the leftists, the activists, the almost-anybody-who-had-a-grudge — may not be the best people to make AAP grow to the next level.
Removing them, even though not done in the classiest manner, will actually help AAP do better. Will that be a clean and pure AAP? Absolutely not. Will it be a more successful AAP? Possibly yes.
As baffled AAP supporters and volunteers made hashtags like ‘UnitedAAP’ trend, the party leadership (read one man) humiliated two co-founders of the party. Both cofounders had stature, even if not mass popularity. AAP had just won Delhi with a historic mandate. Why this then?
Clearly, fault lines existed well before the latest Delhi election. The party’s rollercoaster ride through three elections created many differences of opinion within it. Personality clashes were somehow kept under wraps to present voters a united, even if fake, face. AAP won, mainly on Arvind Kejriwal’s credibility, face, connect and promises.
They also won because the party kept winnability above anything else in choosing candidates. What people wanted to see was if AAP and Kejriwal could win. And that they did.
Once the election was won with such a massive mandate, Kejriwal became indispensable to AAP. Internal naysayers who took him on earlier were in trouble. Smart ones in the party realised the new reality fast and bowed a little deeper to Arvind. Silly righteous ones continued to say what they felt was right.
What these idealists didn’t realise is that AAP had a new appeal. While the ultra-honest positioning was right to make it stand out as a newbie party, voters didn’t really care about honesty to that extent anymore. All AAP had to do was be a little more honest than BJP and Congress and they could blow their righteous trumpet again. And if your new standard for honesty is to be only slightly above existing political parties, there is a whole lot of ethical wiggle room for AAP.
There was another trend these naysayers missed. AAP is no longer the new alternative or anti-corruption party. It is also a party where the Modi haters or even ex-Congress voters can park their vote. These voters don’t demand ultra-high ethical standards anyway. So why should AAP bother with extreme righteousness when there is so much low hanging fruit for the picking?
Did i hear someone say because it is morally the right thing to do? As youngsters would say, LOL. If you bring morals to politics, the joke is on you.
Kejriwal and the new pragmatic grey shade of AAP have realised our sad reality. Indians don’t care so much about corruption. They just hate being victims of corruption. We don’t feel revulsion if a leader is somewhat corrupt but does a good job. What we find annoying is blatant scams or if we are personally asked to pay up by corrupt officials. Finally, AAP is reflecting the actual double standard of our aam aadmi quite well.
The collateral damage in all this is the volunteers and donors, who thought they were giving their time and money to something pure. Half will be disappointed, while the other half might adjust to the new reality of the ‘slightly more honest than others’ party. Of course, since AAP now controls Delhi, dependence on donors and volunteers may not be as much.
So what should AAP care about then? One, keep Delhi voters happy. Governance is what AAP needs to demonstrate. A couple of best CM awards won’t hurt. Two, AAP party members must obey Kejriwal if they want a career in the party. Right or wrong, his decisions will determine the party’s fate.
Three, AAP must avoid rash and brutal actions like the recent ousting of leaders. Else karma comes back to bite you. Four, stop claiming to be so righteous. It is annoying. You don’t get to have your cake and eat it too. Have a successful political career, but stop claiming to be what you no longer are or ever can be.
March 21, 2015 ()