Politics

In Goa, AAP is "work in progress" 

On that afternoon of May 22, 2016, some 14,000 people from different walks of life descended on the Campal ground, near Panaji, to hear Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convener & Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (AK) put forward a bold alternative to conventional politics -- his first meeting in Goa ever since AAP Goa unit started in 2012, soon after its launch in the national capital with the promise of a difference -- of ringing in an era of alternative politics. To recall, AAP was formed on November 26, 2012 to bring honesty and transparency in politics-- stuff people had stopped believing politicians possessed. A key point of AAP's vision said: "Politics itself is not a dirty word - it is our current breed of politicians who have made it dirty. AAP wants to make politics a noble calling once again." This vision helped him put together a formidable crew of non-political people promising a fresh whiff of political air. To me, the rally was over-subscribed as the main area was packed to capacity while hundreds more stood outside watching him speak not wanting to squeeze into the arranged space for varied reasons. Unperturbed by the attendance, AK took the time to speak for almost an hour. The crowd did not move an inch despite having to wait for over three hours in the hot burning May sun -- such seemed the thirst for the idea.

AK lucidly described the devastating impact of the Modi led BJP on the entire nation while outlining his alternative of a polity run in the interests of the ‘real wealth creators’ - that is, ordinary people---the aam aadmi. His speech signaled his intent to dismantle the prevailing order. In particular, it subtly suggested that he was not interested in identity politics, 
one-upmanship or petty squabbling. He was joined in by many impressive national and local speakers who went on to indicate that whether AAP wins or loses, this rally would certainly become a launch pad for a mass movement to change Goa's politics for good. Nevertheless, speakers poured scorn on the attacks of the BJP and the Congress and their patronizing attempts to dissuade AAP supporters by arguing that AAP was un-electable. At the mere mention of Modi by AK, the crowd erupted with a chorus of booing, demonstrating the contempt with which the prime minister and his party which ruled Goa was viewed. At the rally, there was a buzz of anticipation and at the end of his speech, there was a buzz of political discussion as people funelled out into the streets.

While the Campal rally was for a major declaration---that AAP would contest the 2017 Goa Assembly elections, the party had started its work on a serious note way back in September 2015 when national secretary Pankaj Gupta took charge of Goa, immediately hit the ground and subsequently unleashed an extremely contagious energy among the otherwise lethargic Goan volunteers. His enthusiasm to multiply the folk on the ground especially youth, made the efforts particularly exciting. He traversed the length and breadth of Goa with a motley crew of selfless volunteers to gravitate an apolitical people into a fierce political revolution, building Team Goa, brick by brick, seeding the need for a change and was to later pitch their support with the slogan --Goa wants Change, Change Means AAP, -- which he coined at a crucial point of the campaign. This resulted in the first meeting at Benaulim on Dec 6, 2015 with over 1000 people in attendance in a non political season, to understand a new model of politics, fueled by volunteers and crowd funding. This was followed by strong meetings in multiple constituencies (both north & south). And to all of us, this meant, that the campaign was gaining a seemingly unstoppable momentum.

The turnout at meetings and the anger on the ground coupled by the enthusiasm for an change made it apparent how utterly discredited these career politicians had become among rank-and-file party members, as well as society at large. This also meant that the mood of the state was for change on which basis the party leadership took the call of contesting. Undoubtedly and much earlier, there was a seismic shift in voters'  consciousness that had taken place ever since AAP was launched in 2012 to its first wining 28 seats in Delhi in 2013 and 67 out of 70 in early 2015. Ever since, ordinary people all over India including Goa had started to question the necessity of a corrupt system that pushed people into crisis they didn’t cause. Millions of aam aadmi yearned for an alternative but, until now, the bankruptcy of the leadership of conventional politics had prevented this feeling from having an expression. The IAC movement first and the subsequent launch of AAP as a political party stemming out of the anti corruption movement, was an expression of this burning desire for change. AAP was that platform that now gave a voice to these same feelings across India, and Goa was no exception. It shook the foundations of traditional politics by bringing together the disaffected, demoralized and apolitical people.

For a rank outsider, AAP was gathering steam among the young electorate. The media likes to tell us that young people are apathetic and don’t care about politics. But the groups of talented youth volunteering in this revolution painted a different picture. Indeed, a major chunk of AAP's campaign volunteers were under the age of 40 and only recently involved in politics, motivated by a burning desire to fight for a better society. They came from varied backgrounds--economic, social and professional. Though AAP was debutant in Goa's poll fray, its highly organised campaign made up of community dialogues, door-to-door visits, creative use of social media and soul-touching campaign songs in Konkani, gained traction among the electorate making it increasingly clear that Goa was witnessing the birth of a new political movement - one that has the potential to draw in hundreds. What was most noticeable of the AAP campaign was a sense of optimism and enthusiasm from all involved, young and old alike, something totally absent elsewhere.

Despite many limitations, there was no doubt that the AAP campaign was giving Goan politics a newer dimension, it so seriously lacked. For one thing, it was bringing honest political ideas and good governance back to the public consciousness. Here we had leaders and volunteers talking about corruption, issues of governance and uniting people of all hues and colors, which had not happened in decades. Clearly, across the political spectrum, all parties were rattled by this new formation that insists on retaining elements of a movement.

Freedom from corruption was not all that drew people to the AAP. In one sense it re-appropriated the notion of the ‘Aam Aadmi’ from its middle class connotations enabling it to accommodate a much wider spectrum of people, that fitted the bill of Goa's populace perfectly. AAP was an exception in that its central ideology was good governance. Not only was the phenomenal electoral success of the AAP in Delhi a watershed moment in our history as it had fundamentally shaken up not only the mainstream political parties but also the many mass agitation movements which have been slogging for years without being able to make a dent in the power structure -- but its delivery on the promise made in its 70 point manifesto especially with regards to water, electricity, health, education and infrastructure -- only meant that it was in for a serious overhaul of the prevailing system. And proudly, AAP in Goa was putting this model in front of the people so as to educate the populace on what it should look for in a political party or government.

For long the social movements in Goa too had, with justification, tried to advocate for specific causes, but they could not find a least common denominator which would unite all the disadvantaged people, and became more and more fragmented. But AAP's anti-corruption and good governance issue build on the tenet on swaraj aimed at bringing them together into one political platform. Even the AAP manifesto or its vision labelled -- "To save Goa’s culture, identity and heritage” -- was about issues that the party has clearly thought through, drawing on the long years of research and alternative policy thinking done by stakeholders coming from different fields like education, environment, mining, health, waste management, women empowerment, etc.

With over 350 plus well attended Goa Dialogues -- an ambitious plan for an extensive 
decentralized and cumulative process to develop local demands for governance and development across the 40 assembly constituencies of Goa with stress on local hearings which aimed to provide an opportunity for a wide spectrum of social stakeholders to come together and create a platform to address peoples priorities ahead of the polls, a first of its kind exercise in the history of politics in Goa -- AAP successfully attempted to make the citizenry look at real issues of governance, health, education, denial of social justice, quality of life etc which plagued them rather than the `politically' created `divisive' issues aimed at achieving political ends of conventional political parties. This is why the BJP and the Congress called AAP an NGO – for it has thought about issues that political parties are not supposed to concern themselves with.

The involvement of women has been an interesting feature of the campaign. Interesting because AAP played an important role in contributing towards the idea of gender neutrality and gender inclusive politics beyond the symbolic gestures by involving women in important positions in its organization to handle important political activities.  A packed-to-capacity women's dialogue with AK held in August 2016 entitled "Women as leaders for change" --- was a multi-faceted campaign designed to bring women together as a single voice that would help every woman to realize their power to change Goa. The campaign aimed to take stock of the status of women in Goa, and commit resilience to the cause of women's progress. It helped connect with women through door to door activities, tea meetings, awareness programs, talk sessions, seminars etc which "served as a call-to-action on multiple fronts including, corruption and the resultant price rise of basic commodities like food, electricity and water, as well as bad governance, poor infrastructure, access to health and education, right to be free from violence, to the opportunity to participate fully in the economic and political affairs of our state. The entire exercise later culminated into an impressive and exclusive manifesto for women -- again a first of its kind in Goa.

AAP believes that until the Women's Reservation Bill is passed by Parliament, there is a lot that political parties can do to ensure proportional representation for women,  and therefore gave five tickets to women. Undoubtedly this new and a fresh initiative to involve women in politics helped gain confidence of women who came out in large numbers across Goa to volunteer. All of the above was fundamentally different from the so-called development slogan of the BJP and the Congress, both of whom had completely patronized crony capitalism. Interestingly, the incumbent BJP's 2012  'parivartan' juggernaut only encompassed mis-governance or misrule and fascism while its 'zero tolerance to corruption' slogan meant absolute tolerance to corruption. AAP which was with the people through its campaign, could feel the pulse of visible anger against the BJP government which was rapidly forcing freeways, flyovers, casinos, gaming zones, golf courses, marinas, gated colonies etc on the people of Goa's serene villages. It took a major U-Turn on implementing its major promise -- bringing back the money lost due to illegal mining and closure of casinos thereby the governed aptly terming it as a U-turn sarkar. Moreover AAP aimed at filling in the void created due to the criminal lack of opposition by the principle opposition party -- the Congress.

While Goans disgruntled by this, volunteered to wholeheartedly support the campaign for AAP to win -- many were not naive about what this would entail. If AAP had to win, the BJP or Congress could not countenance such a victory, not because they really believe AAP is unelectable, but because the movement AK has unleashed threatens the interest of the career politicians and their business of politics. For AAP had been able to transform the political discourse in some significant fashion, enabling fresh thinking on democracy and politics, thus laying the ground for a long term change in political culture as well. Now all this in itself mean no less achievement. Even if AAP had to suddenly disappear into thin air, it would have nevertheless played its historic role.

So what went wrong? 

While the party's rank and file is introspecting the unexpected defeat in electoral terms, there is a lot of speculation (in media) about AAP losing out to regional assertion. That a single point agenda of anti-corruption does not always work and with all the goodwill, an organization needs to be built on the ground. That perhaps if elections had been held six months ago, AAP may well have won because of the Congress’ and BJP's lack of preparedness. That AAP’s entry into the political space is a battle of David vs Goliath -- the sprightly start up needed credible local leadership to take root over time. That, for AAP as the new kid on the block to dismantle existing power structures is clearly not going to be easy, particularly when the system is ranged against it. That though, BJP and Congress may be two sides of the same coin but they do occupy a vast space in people's political imagination and can muster impressive resources.

While quite a few question if AAP's anti-corruption model will be able to stand up to the power of regional identities and sentiments in different states -- the political melo-drama that unfolded in Goa with the so called secular actors throwing all norms to the air, to put the BJP (against who they sought people's mandate) on the saddle back again through a 'marriage of convenience', -- has created a air of betrayal. Even as the dust kicked up by self-centered career politicians is yet to settle on the Goan political scene, let me quote Lenin. "It is in moments of actual political turmoil that people learn in months, what they would in years in ordinary times."


AAP has failed to win seats but the battle is still necessary. AAP in Goa is gearing up to take the real challenge to organize the hundreds who have been drawn into a political activity, into a force that can continue to fight for a fundamental transformation of society. The mass anger and desire for a change among women and youth has now been given a visible, tangible form. Armed with a fighting spirit and a bold program, this movement would, nevertheless,  be unstoppable. With its progressive policies which is the only alternative to conventional parties -- AAP is down but certainly not out.