The principal victim of the lawless protest underway in Delhi is not India's first civil society government, but the hope of millions of Indians because that is what propelled Arvind Kejriwal to leadership and power.
Today, right in front of their eyes, this great Indian hope is dying down quickly - perhaps the biggest let down since the death of similar hope and excitement that VP Singh evoked more than two decades ago. The triumph and failure of heart over reason.
VP Singh rose to power on Bofors, an euphemism for big ticket corruption, but never delivered on his promise while Kejriwal's dream run was driven by his larger tirade against the same malady.
VP Singh seemed to have shown India the possibility of an alternative, but ended up being an anti-Congress substitute, while Kejriwal boldly declared that he was the alternative to not just the Congress but the BJP as well. It took about a year for VP Singh to fail; but Kejriwal looks set for a more rapid failure, notwithstanding the fact that the political circumstances are certainly different.
Naresh Sharma/Firstpost
As in the case of VP Singh, people have been too eager and kind to Kejriwal, but what he has failed to realise is that they are also perceptive, demanding and more importantly, unforgiving. They don't distinguish between his inability to practice the diabolical art of politics, which the Congress and BJP are adept at, and his inability to translate the civiil society ideas of democratic governance into everyday administration. Irrespective of the circumstances, failure to delver is still failure.
For the time being, he is an administrative failure and the street drama is a cover up.
In hindsight, the AAP storyline was set for failure the moment it fell for the Congress's design of concealing its electoral debacle with fake humility. For the Congress, that was the only way to divert attention from its monumental loss. By offering AAP unconditional support, even when nobody asked them to, the Congress hid the terrible wounds of defeat and extracted some reflected glory from the AAP.
Resisting this temptation was AAP's number one mistake. This was an event co-created by the Congress and the media and the AAP should have had the strategic sense to resist it because it was not in their plan of things. The moment they succumbed to somebody else's plan, they were on the wrong path.
Mistake number two was their inability to adapt to the changed plan. They should have taken time to train their legislators and potential ministerial candidates on the skills of administration that's in in line with their philosophy of inclusive governance.
If sovereign nations (e.g. Maldives, East Timor) can seek external support for drafting constitutions and even development planning, why can't a set of greenhorns with incredible responsibility to live up to their promise seek help? It's really surprising that the party, which claimed to have had extensive consultations in drafting their policy documents, failed to train their key leaders and legislators in the art of governance and administration. Indoctrination without the means for implementation is a recipe for disaster.
Mistake number three is its obsession with self-righteousness. Right from day one at the office, the party made horrible mistakes, mostly out of inexperience and eagerness to create impact, which played out as recklessness. Unprepared, new to administration and overzealous to look different, they still didn't have a plan to build the ship as they sailed. They fell into every trap set by the Congress, the BJP and the media.
Making popular executive decisions too soon, instead of taking steps for system reforms and strengthening, are stupid short cuts. Sting operations to fix corruption in an over populated country and belittling oneself by fighting with the police in public is madness. More than a month into the office, Kejriwal is yet to unveil any step for systemic changes.
Mistake number four is the worst - the plain trickery of concealing its failure with its only tool to succeed - namely agitation. This is a moral failure and no worse than the politics of mainstream parties that the AAP wanted to take on. And what it doesn't realise is that this failure will also mark the beginning of their end unless it changes course fast.
It's still not too late. The AAP should realise that playing to somebody else's script is drawing it to dangerous depths. Kejriwal should step back, take a break from the media and seek help. Break down the big ideas of democratic and inclusive governance that the AAP professed into implementable tasks. A tiny city-state of around 18 million people is as big as Australia to govern.
As I had written earlier, hope is the most potent weapon against hopelessness and the path to transformation and results. This is a maxim that permeated from the organisational leadership training in the West to the development sector and civil society movements across the world in the last decade. Letting people down on this unselfish desire is nothing but treachery.
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