The Castaways

Despite all the passive hostility, no one at the Swaraj Samwad seem keen to take Arvind Kejriwal by his muffler.

WrittenBy:Arunabh Saikia
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A very predictable ploy to avoid making a difficult decision or taking a stand on anything is to not get into the specifics. It is a strategy more effective than not broaching the subject at all. You can keep people under the illusion that you will come to the point at some time. Panelists on Indian television news often do that.

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At a banquet hall in Gurgaon, today, the “rebels” of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did exactly that. The words, honesty and transparency, flew around more frequently than they’d do in a moral science classroom. Which is of course par the course with AAP – and this was the breakaway faction, which is even more holier-than-thou (it is apparently possible). Except that on perhaps the warmest Delhi afternoon of the year so far, people wanted results and not rhetoric, even if it was of the articulate kind that Yogendra Yadav specialises in.

“Do you think they’ll do it?” a journalist friend asked me, impatiently. I’m more than certain that it was not the only time that the question was asked. Was a new political party going to be floated? People wanted histrionics – and the only event that would have made the heat worthwhile was a dramatic announcement about the future course of action.

Instead, all that people got, in multiple languages and versions, was what we’ve heard from this bunch forever now: the country needs an honest and transparent political alternative.

What was striking, though, was the amount of cautiousness in the air. Almost no one who took the stage even as much as mentioned Arvind Kejriwal. While some regional leaders did suggest that it was time to take Kejriwal by his muffler, most just stuck to espousing the virtue of Purna Swaraj. Almost all, though, began their speeches with a reference to the comfortable and well-to-do background that they have sacrificed for a bigger cause. Clearly, humility does not maketh an Aam Aadmi.

When it was announced that Shanti Bhushan would speak next, he was welcomed with a fairly loud cheer. Bhushan, though, was uncharacteristically sedate, not directly mentioning Kejriwal even once. Curiously, Bhushan spoke about doubling the Common Minimum Price for farmers and converting bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi to hospitals, schools and flats. Talk about sense of occasion.

Nikhil Dey, Right To Information activist, went out of his way to reiterate that he didn’t belong to any “camp”. Aruna Roy wasn’t present but her message, which was read out, also did not have much else than what every other leader had to say. Kuldip Nayyar, former journalist, who too pulled out at the last minute for health reasons, in his written message, asked both camps to respect the dreams of the millions of people who had voted for a new brand of politics.

There was then a ballot on whether the AAP was following Swaraj in practice in perhaps the most pointless exercise of the afternoon. Well, you wouldn’t be sitting in the heat, attending Swaraj Samvad, if you thought it was.

The best of the day (at least in terms of good oratory at least) was saved for the end, when Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav and Anand Kumar took the stage. But if you expected firecrackers, you were to be more disappointed than ever, for there was none at all. The trio said exactly the same things the regional leaders did, albeit more articulately.  Yadav did engage in some emotional orotundity, invoking his wife and how none of the AAP leaders, who accused him of working against the party, could look his wife in the eye.  But that was that.

The thing about passivity, coated in idealism, is that it works in classrooms and courtrooms – territories that the likes of Bhushan, Yadav and Kumar know better than most in the country. But when you are trying to mobilise support against arguably the second-most popular leader of the nation, it’s a losing battle.

If today was any indication of the AAP’s future, Kejriwal will remain the one who calls the shots. Sadly, though that is bad news for the “idea of AAP”. Oh wait, that is already long dead.

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