The lone battle of a Gandhiwaadi to bring Swacchta at Bapu’s memorial

Last year on 30^th November, Supreme Court gave an order mandating the nation anthem should be played before screening films in theatres. And the person who fought the matter legally is a Bhopal based social activist Shyam Narayan Chouksey.

But winning that battle was not enough to cheer Mr. Chouksey patriotism. Now he is battling up with another issue on which almost every Indian will provide support to Mr. Chouksey, 77, who retired as an engineer with the Central Warehousing Corporation in 2000. This time he has filed a PIL in Delhi Highcourt against the irregularities which has caused Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial ‘Rajghat’ to remain in bad conditions.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who himself hails from Mahatma Gandhi’s land of Gujarat is singing songs of Swacch Bharat but his own government has failed to keep the memorial of ‘Father of nation’ in good condition. According to an RTI, over Rs 4 crores are being spent on the maintenance of Rajghat annually, still things are not at place there.

Entering Bapu’s memorial Rajghat makes the petitioner SN Chouksey, angry as all he sees there is cigarette sticks, damaged wooden pieces, broken tiles, cracked taps, plastic wrappers and dirty toilets which in turn become breeding place for mosquitoes. He has also found that the white marble closer to the monument has gone black due to lack of cleaning and the green carpet has got damaged. In his own words “Bapu used to tell that Swacchta cleanliness is more important than Swadhinta (Independence) but his own Samadhi is craving for that. Where is the allocated money going?” He is also not happy with keeping a donation box near to Mahatma’s Samadhi.

In the petition filed through advocates Abhinav Shrivastava and Sameer Jain, Chouksey submitted photos of the various deficiencies that he had come across when he had visited the monument in past few years, when he claims the situation had worsened. 

He sought directions to MoUD to "stringently apply principles of cleanliness and sanitation at the Rajghat Samadhi, failing which the Ministry should be held liable and penalised for the same and to issue strict instructions to the President and Secretary of the Rajghat Samadhi Committee to perform their duties strictly as provided under the Act and Rules and to make the Rajghat Samadhi a world class monument".

The petition has also sought directions to the Rajghat Samadhi Committee "to carry out repair and maintenance work. To ensure proper maintenance and upkeep of the Samadhi a mechanism should be evolved by MoUD so that once the things are set right at the Samadhi similar situation should not develop again in future. For this, the government may form an independent committee of experts such as civil engineer, public health engineer, expert from horticulture department and expert in Gandhian philosophy."

According to him, he has fought for 11 long years to make sure National Anthem being played in movie theatres and he will not stop until the holy place gets its glory back. So far, in total 6 hearings has been happened at Delhi Highcourt over the same matter and he is hopeful that it won’t take too long to reach out to a conclusion, unlike before. Mr. Chouksey used to visit Rajghat thrice a year, he captures pictures there and submit the same in court.

Being a Gandhiwaadi, cleanliness always remain in his priority list and he believes one day India will become clean as Bapu wished for long ago.

The other side of AAP

Aam Aadmi Party was born with a pledged commitment towards democracy and transparency. Its core ideology revolves around curbing corruption and establishing ‘Swaraj’. Since its formation, AAP proclaimed to be the only party which used to involve people’s consent in decision making. It always enjoys the support of intellectual class of the country. People have seen it as a hope; they put their all faith in it and served it wholeheartedly. Sadly, today the case is not same.  If the recent developments are any indication, the party, which was perceived to be different and cashed it in this perception, now seems to be no different from its counterparts.

From last one month, there was a tussle going on among the senior leaders of party. On one side Arvind Kejriwal, party’s national convener with his coterie accusing others of anti-party activities while on the other side Yogender Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, two of AAP’s very senior and respect leaders questioning the autocracy of Arvind Kejriwal. Yesterday the fight turned ugly when four of party founder members including Yadav and Bhushan thrown of national executive of the party.

What comes out till now shows that Arvind Kejriwal seriously lacks the leadership skills. His autocratic style of functioning could work in an ‘Andolan’ but can’t work in a political party. Today, he is the Chief Minister of Delhi and enjoys support of majority of volunteers but that is not enough for him. If we go by the trend of social media then many of the volunteers and well wishers of AAP are angry with the way Arvind has handled this matter. Many of them are standing behind Yadav and Bhushan. Even few of the Delhi MLAs and one MP from Punjab are openly backing Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. This clearly indicates, party is on the verge to getting divided.

One thing which is easily predictable, that Arvind Kejriwal thinks he can work well in Delhi and gain his lost ground. It is true that people have a weak memory and party infighting is not an issue directly related with them. But here things are different. What happens in last few days has just shattered the credibility of Arvind Kejriwal as a leader. Today’s politics is all about perception and now, AAP seems to be similar to all the parties which were accused by them for autocracy and lack of internal democracy.  

By going in details of the problems AAP is facing, it is clear that Yadav-Bhushan camp wants to keep principles on the upper side rather than winning elections and on the other side, Kejriwal thinks politics is all about winning election. For any other party, Kejriwal’s view seems to be right but that is not the case here with AAP. This party was never formed to become another ‘election machine’ infact it came into existence to change the rules of politics and make it clean and transparent.

Arvind Kejriwal has to understand that AAP has just won Delhi for now and there is a long way to go if he really wishes to see a corruption free well developed India. He has signaled in his very first speech after becoming CM that he wants to focus on Delhi for now and turn it into a model state. Theoretically, it seems to be the easiest way to grow big instantly but after a time period. But in a diverse county like India, winning elections on the basis of work done in some other state is not an easy task. This is the time when Arvind Kejriwal should start building leaders in other states too and act like a leader, who is even ready to work with people having distant point of view.

It would have been much better if Kejriwal camp could have answer the questions raised  by Yadav and Bhushan before kicking them out from the top decision making body of party. No doubt, their questions have enough weight and if not rectified quickly, then in coming time AAP has to suffer because of that. 

Personality Driven Politics: A Contradictory truth of today’s India

On 14^th February 2015, it was a sunny morning in Delhi. Thousands of people flocked to a rally at historical Ramlila Maidan, not because they were asked to, but because they wanted to be a part of the jubilation, the ecstasy of a victory, the celebration of a man who had created history. And the moment in which the man himself arrived, the crowd which was holding its breath for long, roared in approval. The decibel levels reached a feverish pitch with the crowd chanting in unison. Yes, here the man is none other than Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi.

The whole nation has witnessed the same charisma for Narendra Modi during the 2014 general elections. This throws up an important question. Has the electorate evolved over vote bank politics and has moved towards leader driven politics?

Be it Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar or Jayalalitha, they all possess some sort of magnetism which attracts people towards them. Be it on a national level or state level, all the elections won by any of the parties have one common thing; the party having the more face value won the election. And this is the reason, day by day Congress is downgrading to its lowest since formation because it has failed to build up Rahul Gandhi as leader of the masses.

Even if you could bring your attention towards the slogans chooses by parties during elections; ‘Har Har Modi’, ‘Abki Baar Modi Sarkar’, ‘Paanch Saal Kejriwal’, etc makes convincing that election nowadays fought in-between personalities not parties or ideologies.

It is well understood that people have become more mature with their political understanding and now they want a credible leader. But that credibility should be counted by the way in which leader follows his party’s ideology? What’s happening is completely different, wherever elections have won on a leader’s face value, that leader is dictating and deciding on which ideology the party and government will run.

Many think that Narendra Modi has come like a savior for BJP and is being too lucky for the party but later in time, people will realize its consequences. BJP, largely described as ‘Party with a Difference’ has completely lost all of its ‘Differences’ under Modi’s rule. There remains no democracy inside the party, galaxy of leadership has been sidelined and it will not be premature to say now ‘Modi is BJP & BJP is Modi’. It speaks a lot about a party largely known as a political offshoot of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

It’s not just about BJP, every other political party works under a ‘Boss’ these days. It would suffice to say that the outcome of all recent elections was largely polarized by the voter’s faith in one man. A political pundit will tell you that Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi had done it in the past. But it was past and India has seen so many colors of politics after that.

However, this might be the beginning of a new era in Indian politics. An era where individual leaders with public backing might be more influential than a group of convincing leaders, where the concentration of leadership in the hands of a select few might be the way forward, where coalitions might not make as much sense as they used to, where the electorate is more volatile and demanding than ever.

With a great mandate comes an even greater level of expectation.

Arvind Kejriwal: Common Man's Hearthrob and a Walking Revolution

In the year 2011, an angry young man wearing long old shirts and pants appeared on TV screens with the sayings which are close to a common man’s heart. He, along with Anna Hazare took a stand against corruption and started fighting for an independent body ‘Lokpal’. We all know him as Arvind Kejriwal, Former Chief Minister of Delhi and having a resemblance of an ordinary educated middle class man, firmly aligned with values like justice, equality, truth and transparency. He is also the most lingering personality who has proactively occupied Indian media in last 4 years.

The faith and credibility which he earned among the common people are the domino effect of the sacrifices which he made during his early stage of life. Reminiscences of a Man who has studied from prestigious IIT, got a job at Tata Steel and later worked as an IRS officer, what else has remained after achieving all this for a common middle class Indian. But for Arvind all these accomplishments were not sufficient as he had some other plans in his mind.

Arvind left the job at Tata Steels as he found the same was not his cup of tea. He considered joining Indian Administrative Services could give him a chance to enter into the system and to give back something to the society. Just after giving the exams, he went to Kolkata and joined the Ramakrishna Mission and Nehru Yuva Kendra. It was to some degree out of the box as everybody around him was planning to go abroad to earn money, but he had his own beliefs and he was so desperate to work for the social cause.

While working as an IRS officer, he started an NGO ‘Parivartan’ and it was his first footstep towards the larger pictures for which he was looking for. Later he quit IRS also and dedicates himself completely in the social work. Arvind won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006 for his contribution to the enactment of the Right to Information Act and for his efforts to empower the poorest citizens of India.

As his father Gobind Ram Kejriwal, a retired engineer, describes Arvind settled uneasily into life as a bureaucrat. Unlike the other officers he worked with, Kejriwal refused to use peons; he cleaned his own desk and emptied his own dustbin. He avoided office parties and other social gatherings, preferring to sit at a nearby tea stall. Arvind doesn’t celebrate his own birthday or those of his two children. He is full of fury against the corrupt system is where the poor getting poorer and rich is getting richer.

Life is full of miracles and this short little man has more to achieve. In the year 2012, after getting frustrated with the government’s unwillingness to bring a strong Lokpal bill, he formed Aam Aadmi Party and in the span of a year he has successfully been able to become the CM of Delhi state. After ruling Delhi for successful 49 days, he resigned from his post of CM as his government does not have the majority in assembly to pass the laws which they promised in their manifesto. His decision to quit the government has been criticized by a large section of people and that anger cost his party too to lose badly in 2014 general elections.

Arvind has transformed his rage against the corrupt system in a more logical way to attain his aspiration of a real democracy where people have all the rights in their hands. No doubt, he has a vision, but not aids which can help him to reach as many as people. Arvind single handedly managed to fight with the most powerful political guns of India and the strength that conspired him to stand firmly in every situation came from the rage which he has against the current political system.

He demonstrates what is called “Bottom to top” approach, a style that focuses, primarily, on the growth and well being of its people and its communities. While traditional politics generally involve “Top to bottom” approach where the exercise of power done for their own benefits.

Now again, Delhi is on the verge of elections and Arvind Kejriwal’s fate will get decided by election results. He is trying hard to win the lost trust of people and opinion polls are showing that slowly and steadily his words have started getting acknowledged. Kejriwal seems pleased with the success of his campaign strategy and confident enough of winning the trust of people in the form of votes. 

The glamour of Arvind Kejriwal’s has made BJP to change those strategies with which they managed to win in the recent past. Modi is no more the center of attraction in these elections, but the issues are. In fact, the entire Modi cabinet is trying hard to beat a man who calls himself a ‘Common Man’. In a way, Kejriwal has won, not electorally but morally.