So Arvind Kejriwal does it yet again, and you have to hand it to him – in style :). Like I have written many times I like him as a person, but I still feel he is surrounded by snakes and he needs a strong partner who has the administrative skills. Hopefully somebody will emerge and ensure that Arvind is able to deliver as Chief Minister of Delhi. The snakes in his team have managed to raise the stakes with populist measures – free water and 50% cut in electricity tariffs etc etc ….. Nearly impossible to deliver. Fingers crossed.
Yes there is a corner of my heart that bleeds for Mr. Modi, because am an unabashed fan of the man. Am sure he will introspect and also get the BJP to introspect and one election doesn’t make or break a man of his resolve. And if the Delhi elections are anything to go by, public memory is short and the “Aam aadmi” is forgiving :).
What went wrong for BJP – strategy, local unit and timing. Starting with the local unit, the BJP local unit was demoralised at the end of the last elections when they emerged as the largest party and didn’t stake a claim to form the government and the opportunity was lost. They also have been running the MCD to the ground. Next the timing just didn’t work. If only these elections were held in Sept/Oct there would have been lotuses blooming in the pleasant Delhi weather rather than the broom sweeping every constituency clean. Strategy …. Well, BJP didn’t have a choice, the modern day Chanakya Amit Shah, had to bring in Kiran Bedi, had to clean up the local unit and sure, he misread the mood – the voter wants a positive campaign, the Delhi voter too, so just drop the negative campaign. I was very upset with the negative campaign by the BJP as am sure many others were – just stop.
Now lessons that AAP must remember – this is a massive second chance, but one that they mustn’t fritter away. They need to put their head down and get to work, and bring in some “clean”, “savvy”, and “experienced” stars. This mandate is again a mandate for change and there is an air of hope – the hope that this experiment by an “Aam aadmi” can be successful. So the responsibility is greater. Arvind, stop blaming everybody, get rid of the “holier than thou” statements and stop trying to prove you are “naive”. Learn the ropes from seasoned politicians, it’s important to play “smart” politics, while remaining clean and bringing development. Choose the people around you very carefully, and keep your ear to the ground. For now, very well done and you really deserve the second chance, it’s fully earned. Bask in the glory of the moment and then make it work.
There was a joke doing the rounds on Whatsapp saying “Laxmi comes on a Lotus and a witch rides a broom” … Well, let’s hope Laxmi chooses to bloom along the path cleared by the broom in Delhi.
Delhi is “bewitched” :):)
You wanted to be AAM AADMI. Nothing special.
Who can stop you from wanting what you want.? I wish indians would want for population control. cleanliness, equal rights and justice. Instead they vote to be AAM AADMI.
This could be a strategy by BJP as Amit Shah is not a guy misreads the pulse. AK needs to shake off his dharna drama and get dn to biz. Rightfully said that several populist and impossible poll promises have been made but AAP can be forgiven given their infancy!
Bindu, You think Kejriwal is surrounded by snakes and needs a partner with administration skills. I think the problem is deeper. If he was a good leader he would have some admin. skills himself and supllemented it with good partners. This being not the case, it shows that he has not matured as a leader. It is one thing to agitate against “the establishment”; it is another to run it efficiently when you are the establishment. While he is on the learning curve, Delhiites have to develop patience, perhaps? Jai Hind.