"Kabhi kabhi kuch jeetne ke liye kuch haarna padta hai, aur haar ke jeetne wale ko Baazigar kehte hain." This is probably one of the most famous dialogues ever from Bollywood. A dialogue that lay the foundation for an average Indian with average looks to one day become the King of the Indian film industry. The same dialogue also encapsulates, in one sentence, the story of the people behind the Aam Aadmi Party. People who left their jobs and sacrificed their personal lives, and even lost their friends from the Jan Lokpal movement, to cause possibly the biggest upset in the history of Indian politics. And, that too, in the National Capital, the heart of the country. Let us look at why these Baazigars will be the winners of the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
This article lists the turn of events from the point of view of a Aam Aadmi and the opinions of a Aam Aadmi. In case you observe any factual inaccuracies please point out so that they can be promptly rectified.
The Aam Aadmi Party was formed when about eighteen months back some of the arrogant political leaders threw a challenge to the members of the Jan Lokpal movement. They were challenged to fight elections to prove that they represented the common man. Some of the leaders of the movement led by Arvind Kejriwal accepted the challenge and formed a party, aptly named Aam Aadmi Party. The symbol of the party was a jhaadoo (a broom) symbolising that the party was formed to clean the Indian politics.
Throughout, the leaders of both Congress and BJP continued to ridicule AAP as a bunch of good for nothing jokers. Guess they hadn't seen The Dark Knight. For this bunch of jokers, ones with a good intent, had made a mark on the history of the country. By the time 2013 ended, the national convener of a party that was formed barely 12 months back had become the Chief Minister of the National Capital.
Those who lost the elections included some stalwarts from both the parties. People who had been the winners for past 15 years continuously, and more. And the best part was that most of them lost to first timers. The Aam Aadmi has, atleast once, defeated the evil politicians.
What happened in Delhi gave hope to people across the country. Those who are frustrated with the rampant corruption, that is eating the country like termites eat wood, are rejoicing. This has in turn caused the national politics, which was till date focussed on individual personalities, to be focussed on issues. Narendra Modi is talking about development and pro-people measures like tax reforms. BJP all of a sudden discovered its good CM's like Manohar Parrikar.
BTW Modi is yet to respond to the challenge that Kumar Vishwas posed to him - to fight against either Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi in the 2014 elections. Going by his track record Manohar Parrikar can be seen as the Manmohan Singh of BJP (defending corrupt ministers). And the idea of tax reforms was hijacked by Ramdev from an organisation named Artha Kranti.
On the other hand the Delhi government has been under the lens of the media 24x7 since the day it was formed. As the representatives of the party themselves say, what could be a bigger evidence of change in the expectations of the people from politicians then the fact that they want the politicians to work and work fast. Every move of the government is being critically evaluated. That too on national television. All this while CMs of the other three states where elections happened at the exact same time are probably sleeping away in peace. There's absolutely no mention of them.
In the lasting impact that it has had on the national politics AAP has already achieved a significant part of its raison d'etre. There is still a long way to go. But, as long as AAP continues to be true to its roots and philosophy of being the Aam Aadmi's voice it can expect to continue to be the Aam Aadmi's choice.
That said, we come to the 2014 elections. If I am to put my expectations about 2014 Lok Sabha elections in writing, I would want AAP to win over 100 seats, Congress below 100 and BJP above 180. BJP should form the government with LK Advani as the prime minister, with issue based support from AAP. AAP should give outside support and play the role of a constructive opposition. A role that an aam aadmi cannot expect any of the other parties today to play. The experience, foresight and leadership abilities of Advani combined with the support of a party that truly cares about people, and under its critical watch, would be the best this country can get.
Going by the current scenario, this is a real possibility. This would ensure that by the time elections happen in 2019, Congress would have gone through the process of aatma-manthan (self cleansing) and BJP would have realised that it is where it is only because of the common man's support - whether it is Hindu, Sikh or Muslim. And, hopefully, in 2019 we will have an election where parties talk about real issues instead of hatred that has marked this election.
And, if this happens, AAP would be the true winner of this year's elections. Aam Aadmi would have won!
