Why Some People are Sceptical about the AAP

It is official. It’s the Aam Aadmi Party – the AAP. Why would it be good for the nation? 

First, the party hopes to address corruption. And second, they intend that there will be no muzzling of the aam aadmi. They have a proven track record. They’ve invited honest feedback while others have tried to muzzle the opinions of the common citizens of India. Ordinary people have gone to jail for daring to criticise political parties and their leaders. Rule by fear.

Still, there are some people who are wary of giving the AAP a chance. They want change with all their hearts. They hate the corruption they face daily. They know what it has done to the nation. 

But these are some of the things that stop them. There’s the fear of the unknown. They don’t wish to take a chance with a new party. They’d rather settle for whatever is known. At least it has constancy – they know how to handle the corruption and they know they have to pay up – whatever the price – if they want daal roti or anything legitimate done for themselves. Who knows what might be brought into the equation through unknowns? 

• It doesn’t matter that the known parties are trying to muzzle the ordinary citizens and sending them to jail for voicing their opinions. 
• It doesn’t matter that thanks to corruption in individual members of existing parties many Indians have remained mired in poverty with a complete lack of health, education, shelter, food, clothing and employment. 
• There have been scams to make land grabs legitimate. This has resulted in suicide and depression. 
• The corruption perception index puts India at 3.1 out of 10
• the air we breathe, the soil we grow our produce in or let our cattle graze in and our drinking water makes ours an environmentally poor country to grow up in. 

We would rather take all that than take a chance with a new party.

We are meek and submissive as our current politicians want us to be. How was it possible to put those ordinary individuals in jail? We could all see that state machinery was used - for example, the police. Who had the power to call on that state machinery to do their bidding? Do we have to be scared of passing our opinions? Or is it something we are used to anyway so where's the problem?

And last, but not least, there’s apathy. “It is hot, I am busy, I hate politics, we'll always have corruption in politics or how will just one vote – mine – make such a difference” are all excuses we use to remain apathetic.

My hope is that come election time each and every Indian will know and appreciate not only Arvind but all the AAP party members of which there are 300 right now. 

Here are some of the things I appreciate in Arvind - the AAP leader. He has an elephantine memory. Politicians have tried everything in their power to bring him down but he’s always come back with facts and figures to confound their efforts. They’ve made accusations that he is self serving; that he wants to enter politics for himself; that he’s simply using the platform of corruption for his personal ambitions. His response has been to let them know he's only joined politics to fight the system from within. He, Anna and so many Indians tried letting politicians (of all parties) know how much the aam aadmi hated their corrupt ways. This was without wanting to join politics but through peaceful protests. The response from politicians was to pretend they were agreed to bringing in a law to punish corrupt politicians. Their version of that law, as we all know, was to once again put themselves in charge of the investigations against themselves.

I’d like to close this post by talking about Anna and Arvind. They are two sides of the same coin. Arvind’s move of forming a political party has Anna’s blessings. Anna has promised to campaign for Arvind’s party members as long as they are not corrupt.  The 2 As make the most perfect foil for each other. Both have the good of their country at heart. Anna likes working with his hands. Who isn’t impressed with the way he’s turned his village from abject poverty into prosperity. Not for him the complexities of the letter of the law and debates. Those are in the capable hands of someone with a memory for facts and figures - the articulate Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party.

Note: The Aam Aadmi Party website has pages under the title “Agenda” that explain exactly what they are planning to tackle and how. Watch this video to find out what you can do to join the party, what pamphlets you can distribute etc.