I always praise good work done by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi during its tenure. I used to wish that Indian leaders had talked about schools, education, health, etc. to build India’s human capital instead of indulging in communal and blame game politics. I always wished that politicians were freed from corruption and embraced transparency in political funding. But, all of these wishes seemed to be true when AAP rose in 2014.
I always looked at AAP as a hope for the future of Indian politics. I always considered AAP as a different one from mainstream parties which had its genesis from a movement led by Anna Hazare. It may not be the best party but is a far better alternative than others.
Yesterday, AAP has launched its poll song sung by Vishal Dadlani for upcoming Delhi election in February 2020. It shows the commendable work done by AAP government in Delhi.
What I noticed after listening to the song is worrisome for me. Just read some lines from the song given below:
“Chala re chala fir Arvind dekho
Dilli ke haq ladkar lene ko
Roka toh dekho laakh duniya ne
Banda taiyar ni rukne ko
Hai beta Dilli ka ek vo
Aam se bhi aam admi jo
Sacha irada dridh nischay
Government jo janta ki hai
Auraton ki suvidha suraksha ki
Sochta ek banda hi hai
Toh saari Dilli bole
Dil se lage raho lage raho Kejriwal
Toh saari Dilli bolo dil se
Jame raho jame raho Kejriwal”
“Here goes Arvind, one more time,
To fight for the city of Delhi,
You can try to stop him,
But his determination will trump you.
He’s a son of Delhi,
As common as every other Delhiite
Honest intentions and an immovable will,
And a government of the people;
That women’s safety and security is important,
Is part of his agenda only.
Delhi chants
Keep going, Kejriwal,
From their hearts they say,
Onward, Kejriwal!”
Look at the highlighted words in the song and watch the video. The whole video song revolves only around Arvind Kejriwal. I am surprised that video has not even spoken “AAP” word once, the party which the people are going to vote for. The video shows only Kejriwal’s face and has not highlighted even a single leader of AAP other than him. Even the title of the song is “Lage Rho Kejriwal” (Keep going, Kejriwal) instead of being named something related to the AAP. The song talks only about one man.
I know every party has a ‘face of change’ in its campaign. Every party has a popular leader which symbolises it. But the extent up to which this song portrays AAP as one-man army is magnificent.
Indian political parties have always depended on a single charismatic leader. For example, The Congress in India is known by the Gandhis’ name, the BSP is known by Mayawati, the SP is known to be led by the Yadav family. Such tendency leads to a centralisation in decision making and threatens inner-party democracy. Such parties become hollow from inside and are always prone to degradation and the Congress is the best example of this.
AAP has always been alleged as a party of a single leader in the past. Many leaders like Yogendra Yadav who contributed in rising of AAP had left the party due to this. But, I don’t want AAP to face such vulnerabilities in the future because it is a hope for many people like me. I don’t want AAP to be known by only a family or leader in future.
I wish India gets at least one political party that is strong at its foundation and cares for constitutional principles of secularism, democracy, etc. I wish AAP becomes a role model for its counterparts and forces them to tread on the politics of development.
It is necessary for the party leadership to check such centralising tendencies and ensure that AAP becomes the face of people instead of a single leader becoming the face of AAP.