 "Call him an anarchist or an activist, you cannot ignore Arvind Kejriwal")
Against the backdrop of surveys on his party’s prospects in the 2014 general elections — one shows him as the top choice for the prime minister’s job if a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party force comes to power at the Centre — fights on Facebook, angry tweets, rude SMSes, hung-up phone calls and cutting silence after high-pitched arguments over Kejriwal are playing out across households. This, in the process, has even elbowed BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi out of many living room discussions.
The comparison might look far-fetched but some observers even say the AAP divide is bringing back the memories of caste-and-class polarisation over implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations when V P Singh was the prime minister more than 20 years ago.
Sociologist Dipankar Gupta agrees there is an element of class involved in backing or shunning AAP. There is a conservative view where people want to play safe and place their bets on the known parties and representatives. Kejriwal and his party, Gupta argues, might be a greater phenomenon outside Delhi because of what he calls their “gutsiness”. There have been wrong actions by some of his party members, he agrees, but adds “every party has done it (taken unconstitutional measures) in the past”, referring to the Babri Masjid demolition, Rath yatras, killing of Sikhs after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, among other things. “Those things pay off in politics.”
But there’s a long list of those disillusioned after the Delhi CM’s latest dharna to defend his law minister, Somnath Bharti, who allegedly assaulted African women in the capital. A tweet sums up the impression of many: “There is a big question mark about the ability of AAP to govern. Its methods are totally anarchic.” Another lists out the party’s daily agenda: “Wake up, see newspaper, agitate, break law, membership drive, night raids, sleep.” Another says: “Dump them, support Modiji and save India.”
A critic says: “AAP supporters don’t understand what Arvind Kejriwal says or does. Nonetheless, they jump to his defence — kuchh toh kar raha hai”. There also are tweets that border on being funny: “Mildly worried that Arvind Kejriwal will start a dharna in protest against Arvind Kejriwal withdrawing dharna yesterday.”
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma goes to another extreme. “After seeing the antics of Kejriwal and Bharti, AAP to me seems more like a spoofy version of the Nazi Party.” One of industrialist Vijay Mallya’s tweets reads: “Super n unexpected performance in Delhi polls…. AAP raised expectations 4 good governance. Now afraid AAP may turn Hindustan into Dharnastan [sic].”
However, Facebook, which reflects the minds of the young and the not-so-young alike, shows Kejriwal continues to retain a hold over the people who backed him earlier. And, there are converts, too, in his favour. An HR professional who earlier shifted to Dubai, says: “Kejriwal is in my prayers always for the work he’s doing!!” Even a government official who describes the CM in unsavoury terms, admits that it is an achievement that Kejriwal has been able to fight elections without money power.
“What anarchy”, a Kejriwal supporter asks, when confronted with the question of his dharna in the central vista of Delhi disrupting life. This media professional who hails from Kolkata said, “we have walked hours from school and college because of bandhs every other day. So, this is not a big deal.” Another hardcore follower said,”We have seen traditional parties and systems. Now let’s try what anarchy is like.”
A Delhi based hotelier thinks AAP has been a symptom of yearning within the urban middle class for a change. But he pointed out that a large part of the middle class does not support Somnath Bharti’s actions. “Whatever they are doing is with a strategy and a deeper purpose to reach out to a certain audience. Middle class after all is further divided into upper, middle and lower. And the more educated upper middle class is not as big a vote bank as the other two categories,” he said.
Aman Lekhi, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, ruled out any polarization. Instead, it is the people on the fringes who are getting active. “All over the Facebook and social networking sites you see people running with the national flag and a topi. They identify themselves with these glamorous portrayal of patriotism in movies. Suddenly after years of indolence, they have become active,” he said.
A Delhi based entrepreneur who had even contributed significant amount of money to AAP today feels he cannot be trusted to run the country after the events of last one week. Agreeing that AAP has got everyone on the toes, his last word is that “Modi wave is still prevalent. “