What the national capital really needs is for it to become slum-free. If Arvind Kejriwal can do this in Delhi, he will be able to give dignity to those who voted for his party, the real aam aadmi
The newspapers and television channels have left no stone unturned to remind people of how Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal swore on his children that he will not come to power by taking support from any party. “I swear on my children [that] there can be no tie-up between us. We are fighting the election against these scam-ridden parties”, he had said, just a few days earlier. Yet, Mr Kejriwal has agreed to tie-up with a political party. And it is not just any party, but the same corrupt Congress, against which his entire election campaign was targetted, that Mr Kejriwal has now joined hands with. It’s anybody’s guess now how genuine his investigations into the Congress’s scams and scandals will be. Welcome to the world of politics, Mr Kejriwal!
What is worse is that this entire tie-up is now being seen by many as Mr Kejriwal having joined hands with the Congress to sabotage the chances of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s who has his eyes on the top job following the general election in 2014. For a new party which swore to be honest and having no truck with other parties, this suspicion can be a huge blot. Even if the people would have excused Mr Kejriwal for joining hands or taking support from the BJP, his accepting even ‘outside support’ from the Congress is unlikely to go down well with the electorate since his entire campaign was based on the aam aadmi’s angst against the incumbent power in Delhi.
In fact, the people would have happily gone in for another round of election in Delhi than see the hopes and promises of an honest new party being crushed in the desperate rush for power. The AAP has given away the keys of its Government to the Congress even before it could form the Government.
However, this does not have to be a lost cause yet. While I would have never ever been in favour of the AAP taking support from the Congress to form a Government, now that it is about to be a reality, I will try to look at the positives.
First, is the lack of understanding of economics of the AAP’s rival parties. Calling the AAP’s election promises as being impossible to live up to, is really not realising the facts. Delhi is one of the richest States in India and can easily afford a subsidy of Rs 200 per family per month on electricity and another Rs 20 per family per month on water. In other words, Mr Kejriwal can easily live up to his supposedly un-deliverable election promises if he works on them systematically. This will balance out the AAP’s loss of credibility that will take place from its practical inability to investigate the scams of the Congress — given that it is the Congress whose support will decide for how many days Mr Kejriwal will be holding the powerful position of Chief Minister of Delhi.
Yet, the big opportunity doesn’t lie in the AAP simply fulfilling its electoral promises, for these promises were more populist and not necessarily what Delhi actually needs.
The people of Delhi are already paying this Rs 220 a month that is being planned as a subsidy. Such a subsidy will go unnoticed by them and the money will be wasted. At about Rs 37.5 thousand crore in the next five years, this is a huge amount of money to be thrown down the drains in subsidies, in an era where subsidies are the last thing economies want.
The money spent won’t create any asset base nor will it create any employment opportunities or increase production. What the national capital really needs is for it to become slum-free. It must be an example for the rest of India to follow. And it is exactly Rs 38,000 crore that Delhi needs to make houses for its citizens who are now dwelling in the slums.
If done, this will be an asset creation; it will give dignity to those who really voted for the AAP — the real aam aadmi — and it will create additional employment opportunities too. People will be only too glad not to receive the Rs 220 power and water subsidy every month if the alternative is provided. For the AAP, here lies a great opportunity to turn the questioning minds into becoming appreciating fans.
(The writer is a management Guru and honorary director of IIPM Think Tank)