Breaking News

Monday 13 January 2014

Lok Sabha 2014 - concerns and thoughts!

I notice some doubts doing rounds in social media if AAP should fight general elections or not!

Here i take up the concerns one by one. And also share my thoughts with why wwe SHOULD fight Lok sabha 2014.

Before we start I must warn you that im not an expert political analyst, nor unbiased either! So read this at your own risk! :)


Point 1 Concern that AAP does not have experience!
Frankly, you do not need experience to get into politics (for the kind BJP/cong ) have been doing.


Please provide an alternative from those people.
It is not only a matter of who becomes the prime minister. But i do not have any good BJP aur Cong candidate in my area. And i would want AAP to give me a reason to not press NOTA button in my area. 

Alternative to criminal candidates in present political structures
In my city, i notice candidate was a recovery officer who had nothing and now owns businesses worth millions, he has captured govt lands in the center of the city! He has almost 1 cases running in court. I do not want to vote for him. And i can't obviously vote for Congress.


As much as 40% candidates today are into crime of some sort
And that's not all even today as much as 40% of the candidates by BJP/cong have serious criminal cases. Can we wait to starting showing our voting power to them? I can't wait another 5 years for this, sorry! AAP has given immense power to voters which we never had.

Till now voting was done as a casual activity today democracy has become a religion and voting is like a sacred ritual where people sincerely perform karma yoga by voting for the nation!

People desperately want to vote for clean candidates:
Artists, IAS officers, Company CEOs joining AAP. 



Point 2: There's difference between Delhi and India!

Most people don't realize that AAP is not a regional party anymore. This is not Delhi crowd. This is UP, Amethi!




Answer: There are many new factors now! Difference between 2013 and 2014 elections.
  • Then, AAP had no popularity, back then. All surveys showed AAP as its nothing. Today the scene is completely different
  •  Media never showed AAP coverage much, today AAP in news because of unprecedented actions in Delhi
  • Before only few people knew about AAP today almost 80% people in India are awareof Jhaadu!
  • There were many people who had doubts and theywho have now started to believe! Becauase of Delhi results.
  • More area, but people!
    Going Pan India  is not just a limitation but a strength too! Think about it, many people who support AAP were not able to come to Delhi, but now they will be able to take out time at local level. 300 AAP units are already working all over India, from almost one year already. They have formed committees, and working in an organized way.
  • On Facebook, every state page has 100,000 to 200,000 likes. In a country where only 6% people use internet, this is a remarkable figure!

So the equation will be balanced even if one factor is decreased but others making up for it!

Point 3 We can't do campaigning in short time
The work done in 3 months by the Delhi government will do the campaigning all over the country!

And its not 1976 and 1998 (like many people compare this movement to, but that's to discuss another day) Today we have electronic media, thousands of volunteers working online . Frugal Guirella techniques for promoting ideas may look tiny and simple. But they can be VERY effective.

We can get to all India very quickly... !

People want the results
Im damn sure that within these 15 weeks Delhi govt will do what Cong was nt able to do in last 15 years.

Janlokpal alone is the single reason why many people will vote for AAP. New courts, hospitals etc will be soon started up.

Social media power we have!
In today's world of social media of Twitter and Facebook, information and knowledge spreads with the speed of light! Today, no one can create a hype around a lie because there are 100 others ready on twitter to share the truth and abolish the lies.

This is a world phenomenon, not a random thing happening in India
 Times are changing, information medium is getting stronger and more free!

And this is precisely why common people are gaining a voice and this is not just in India but all over the world!
Social organizations running campaigns, people fighting for animal rights and being successful All happening because of this electronic medium. And this will be the frugal tool to make people aware of their rights all over India.


Point 4: how will we find volunteers for all over India  in such a short time?
As much as 1 lakh people have joined AAP in Gujarat alone. Open membership page of AAP and u will see that even small cities in states like 100-150 people have registered online (by paying 10 rupees). there are average 50-60,000 people registered already in every state. AK always says, it is not we who are fighting elections, it is the people of India who are!

Who are these people  who will volunteer for AAP?
Are they all ex-polticians? No! These are common people who never wanted to touch politics, many of them did nt even vote! These people want to be heard! AAP is all about listening, feedback and active democracy.

These people needed a platform to take a stand for their country! And these people are no less in numbers!

The supporters you don't see in open!
Many people who work in government jobs might not come out open to support. Businesses and shop owners don't speak or attend rallies because of fear from current politicians.

There might not be a lof  of people joining AAP rallies but i am sure every unbiased person will campaign for AAP in officers, shops, trains, buses talking to people around them.

A small catalyst can bring a big change! Sure, its not easy, but not impossible either!

Simple math
Today, if AAP gets 1 crore registered members and even 1 member convinces 50 people around him. Then even after being conservative it won't be too much to say that there will 30 Crore voters who will be thinking about AAP while voting this time!

Point 5: We wont be able to compete with BJP Cong
Actually, it can go other way round!

I have studied almost 400 seats of lok sabha of 2009 results. Look at results and try to analyze. It wont be too surprising if AAP comes neck to neck with BJP and here's why:

- BJP has direct presence in only 5-6 states. And Congress has more national presence, BJP even now was not able to break Congress in some states in recent elections. At these places AAP will be able  to crack the Congress code! Like it did in Delhi!

Better than regional parties because for Voters AAP is a a BJP/Cong alternative that is not regional
In states like Assam, Meghalaya North east , West Bengal and many states in the South, people vote for regional parties.

In these states people did nt vote for either BJP or Congress. They vote for regional ones even if these parties don't have a national presence.

What this shows is that voters here are already actively looking for an alternative to BJP n Cong!

Here, people only had two options either the local parties which had no national presence and they did nt wanted to vote for BJP Or Congress because of obvious reasons.

This is where AAP fills the gap, AAP is now a national party, And  is different from both BJP and Cong. A party that has well known faces, educated people with clean background! AAP offers same things which regional party does, simplicity in their politicians, clean candidates etc and it also has a national presence.

I am not saying that AAP will sweep away these areas but certainly it will be able to make deep in-roads because of this proposition!

- Coalition with Independent candidates
there are many smaller parties like Loksatta party which is doing very good in Andhra, I m sure they will come together with AAP, and several others in all states there are 1-2 seats taken by these parties who are genuinely doing good work. Kudrat ka karishma aisa he hota hai. Lagta karishma hai lekin uske peeche saalo ki tayyari hoti hai. Aur sab thode dino mai saamne nikal ke aata hai ekdam se.

We can anyday get 15-20 seats from these smaller parties and good candidates , there is no harm in forming direct coalition with them  if they agree with swaraj model and other non-corruption issues, which im sure most of them will.

An average of 3-5% NOTA voters
In recent state elections, as much as 5% voted for NOTA (None of the above except, Delhi) Yes, this is a clear indication that people in these states are waiting for an alternative and do not consider current politicians worth voting!


An average 15-20 percent increase in voting in recent times
All the social movements, awareness and media has helped in increasing the number of voters, many of these voters are young and there will be enough opportunity for AAP to make space in this segment.



- AAP is the only national party which appeals to all voters

Hindus, muslims, dalits, sikhs, christians, auto drivers, people who speak marathi, and who speak gujarati.

There is no dividing factor!
This is unprecedented in India and its like a fresh air for people like me who felt anger on the social and political decay we saw in the country. Yes, AAP should go national! Because you cannot wait for months or years to breathe. AAP is providing ideological oxygen to a common man who is only concerned with results and not with regionalism and other divisive politics.

The beauty of democracy is that if done the right way, it is the best form of governance. And in a true democracy the voter should have all the option he/she wants so that best people only are able to come out.  This is precisely we have NOTA.

Vote cutter!
So the concept of vote cutter is a very orthodox and power hungry way to look at democracy. Every single person has the right to come up in the election. More candidates and parties will mean unstable governments, but it will also mean that best representatives chosen from people come out.

Even surveys show numbers for AAP
It's impossible to predict the future, but we always get an idea where we are going. No matter how wrong election surveys have been. They always reflect some truth. And there is no denial that AAP is indeed a strong contender which will get at least 30 seats if it becomes third largest party.

Why AAP will win?
AAP has the largest voter base in India, Aam Aadmi.

Traditional parties with their appeasement and extremist ideas would never be able to compete with AAP unless they do a massive makeover.

Any improvements in BJP/Cong will be welcome by a typical AAP supporter
  Because for us, its not important that Kejriwal becomes PM or Yogendra Yadav gets railway ministry.

We don't want our people to take the positions. We want good people to reach to the temple of parliament. AAP's presence at national level will help this to happen!

A few more thoughts:

Nature has its way to balance things, in Delhi if we had smaller area to cover BUT today we have more volunteers and experts joining AAP.

I have personally seen villages where population touches 50,000 and people have formed committees and already started doing jan sabhas.



We reach no where if we fear!

There are many reasons why we should fight the elections and only 1 to not!
There are enough reasons why we should fight the elections and only one reason why we should not.

And that is the fear of defeat!

How does it matter? What we are doing  is not going to harm anyone. We must trust our representatives because at the end of the day, any of the parties will form coalition government. Even minority government is not bad option at all.

As an AAP supporter,i do not mind if AAP receives or offer only outside support to BJP.

What will happen worse?
We might have to give outside support to BJP? So be it! We are not there for power or department.

A minority government will be in pressure to perform better. A minority government is also more answerable. So there's no harm in giving or taking issue based support!

Let me ask you this
Would not the presence of AAP members increase chances of Jan Lokpal?
Would nt AAP members ask more questions and work as a true opposition?

AAP is in politics for a change, and not just to get seats! And to other governments to perform better the AAP fear should stay!
Today, governments all over state are frightened and changing the way they govern.

For example In Rajasthan Vasundhra Raje has started doing janta darbars, cutting costs and decreased security, not taken bungalow.

AAP is creating very high standards for good governance. Which should be welcomed!

A check on old method of politics
If this BJP cong dont have fear then they will just carry on with their older methods of politics.

Lets imagine that AAP does not win a single seat and just captures third position everywhere. Then also this will bring Congress and BJP on their toes and force them to hear to people and change how they do politics.

AAP is creating competition which will bring out best from everyone!
Even the most ardent BJP/Cong supports agree that Cong and BJP are more or less the same.

In TV debates, they don't say we not corrupted. They say we are less corrupted than the other!

AAP on the other hand has a very clear stand against corruption!

I am not claiming that AAP is 100% clean. But its two step ahead of both BJP and Cong because only AAP gives details of its donations and expenses. It gives tickets to only people without convicted criminal background.
ng this alone.

AAP will create competition
Till now there were only regional . And a national presence of AAP will always deter these parties from doing anything majorly wrong

 And this is a welcoming change no matter which party you support!

Professionalism in politics
AAP has brought professionalism in politics, it will bring a change.For example, we all remember how lousy BSNL was before private companies entered into telecom in 1990's and we all know that BSNL has at least improved a lot because there is competition in the market.

Even if AAP loses it would be a victory for democracy
Even if we don't even win a single seat, it will be a win for democracy and at the end of the day it will benefit the people.

I do not aim for very big. Even if proper Janlokpal comes in the center which Anna and Arvind had envisaged, it will do a hell lot better to the nation!

Root cause of corruption is the sytem and not the people
I remember reading one blog on timesofindia today which said that.

Root cause of corruption is no fear of law!
 Where will this fear come from? It will come from Janlokpal, it will come from laws like citizen charter!


Same Indians, who throw garbage on roads in India will search for a dustbin when they go to Dubai. Why? because..

 System maketh the people and
if people don't change the system.
People will remain the same!

So let's stand together and change the system, inch by inch!
There's no worry for AAP
This is the beauty of Satyagrah, Your win is i truth prevails. Even if AAP does not come into power it will be the reason for many good things introduced in politics.

Let's not worry results, Let's keep working and gain satisfaction from whatever the nature (read: destiny) has to offer..

This is how societies evolve!
Im not very religious.

But i believe that nature has its way to deal with things. And every 20-30 years a big change is seen in societies. These changes are more frequent now because of the electronic medium

  • 100 years back Sati pratha as integral part of the society. Today its non-existent.  
  • 50 years back caste-ism existed everywhere, Today its very limited. 
  • 20 years back, Dowry deaths were prominent. Today they re not!
  • Today, corruption is omnipresent, but may in next 5-10 years it becomes rare? 
  • Today, appeasement politics exist, but may be in next 10 years result oriented politics come into place?

I feel confident about this change of better politics, sooner or later!

When nature is giving us an opportunity to be the instrument of this change. Then there is no reason we must hold ourselves back.

Only because we fear a defeat?

Opportunities do not knock twice and even God helps those who help themselves!

So dear fellow countrymen, its the time not to think too much. Lets stop over analyzing and don't fear for the result.

Even if AAP loses it does nt matter,but  AAP's presence will improve the politics of this country. And this is what we are here for!


Don't count what you don't have, count on what could be done with whatever we have!
Don't worry about the resources, because if you see successes of people all over the world be it Bill Gates, Bhagat singh, Sachin Tendulkar , Gandhi, Milkha singh, Bruce Lee, you will find one thing common:

It's not about resources, its about resourcefulness!

To reach somewhere we don't count on what we don't have or look at our limitations. We just have to use strengths to the maximum and put our 100% .

And rest will be history!


This is the same idea which Bhagwad Gita talks about: "Do the karma, without being attached or worried about the results"


Start using whatever resources you have! Possibilities are huge!

Vivekananda said:  Each one of us, have immense power, that we don't even realize! And this power quadruples when we walk on the path of truth!

The dream!
We dream of the day when India will be free of corruption and our societies will evolve into the ones where karma and truth will be supreme!

I have nothing but good wishes for all my countrymen and that even include people from BJP/Congress/SP/BSP, Shiv Sena etc

Get ready for a change!
Friends, its time for another evolution in our society! Its going to benefit us all! Please, support the truth because truth alone will benefit you in long run.


Jai hind! Satyamev Jayate!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Designed By