A new currency in the market is not too different from a new party in the democratic system - both operate through the medium of masses that is willing to align to the alternative. Emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as prominent political force may sound cynical to many but, unlike other regional parties, it has a method similar to the birth of a new currency.
When aluminum was discovered in early 19th Century, a large section of investors thought the world had found another precious metal. The euphoria on the newfound metal reached its zenith when it traded at price more than that of gold. However, the rise of the phenomenon was cut short quickly after the discovery of electrolysis, which reduced the production process of aluminum to as simple as switching on a bulb. Aluminum, after all, did not become an alternative to gold. Gold, on the other hand, proved its worth by slowly gaining acceptability and confidence of people across the globe.
One of the primary reasons why gold became a household phenomenon was because everyone wanted a piece of it. Though precious metals scarcer than gold were discovered later (platinum, as a case), their acceptability was limited because people already invested in gold stuck with it. Similar strategy was adopted by AAP, wherein, the party accepted contributions from common people in form of money and services. It was a masterstroke because once a person contributes; his alliance to the party is pretty much locked. Further, such people become unofficial spokesperson of the party propagating the ideologies in their circle of influence.
The propensity of a phenomenon to spread wide and deep is intensifies if not restricted by dogmatic belief system. The real test of a secular party lies in its ability to put across agenda that cuts through the sectorial boundaries; just like currency, which is considered to be the most secular entities of all. By imparting the same value to every beholder, currency is able to connect masses on a common thread. Such phenomenon can act as an integrator of the society, the political benefit of which can be extracted purposefully in a democratic setup. The success of AAP is careful execution of a campaign that stayed away from seen alienated to specific group. By cutting through sectorial lines, it was able to carve out votes that shared similar ideology. As it turns out, proponents of such ideologies were many.
Arguably, humans endured suffering of highest scale due to structural fault in society. Slavery, for one, continued till as late as 20th Century. The one entity that was instrumental in bringing an end to the menace was money. Money empowered people to resist slavery and adopt democratic setup as meaningful life ahead. Evidently, most of the countries that broke out of the shackles of colonial rule after the Second World War adopted democratic setup. The driving ideology was empowerment; a force that people in this election felt was taken away from them. AAP offered the empowerment back to people when it talked about fighting corruption, ensuring effective governance and setting up of stringent judiciary through lokpal.
Currency is an effective enabler; yet, it can cast tyrannical suffering if not balanced well. The economic challenges facing India today is due to mismanagement of economy. High inflation, lack of jobs, declining growth and other macros that have direct impact of our lives are result of wrong dose of currency in the economy. AAP seems to have used quite a bit of ideological currency. As a result, the expectations from the party is expected to be inflated. Under pressure, they may be inclined to take popular decisions, which may not be good for the growth and prosperity of people.
Only time will tell whether AAP really delivers on its promises it made to electorate. However, one mistake it should avoid is to learn too much too fast. It must understand that it has promised ideologies, which are driven by perception. AAP, thankfully, has been able to drive the perception campaign successfully this time. They must understand that perceptional campaign will not work every time unless it is backed up action on the ground. Now that it has a chance to prove itself in Delhi, it must take up the responsibility and prove it's worth here before going national. An opportunity to create an alternative does not come often. It must not be wasted for a craze that ostensibly looks plausible. I sincerely hope the new political currencygets accepted in our country
(The writer is Director, InvestCare, leading wealth advisors. You can reach him at samar.vijay@investcare.in)