Political AAP Always Hid behind Apolitical IAC?By S Gurumurthy
Published: 03rd February 2014 06:00 AM
Last Updated: 03rd February 2014 07:38 AM
Arvindji, if you reject both ruling and Opposition parties as two sides of
the same coin, you will eventually form a political party of your own,
unless of course you work for a revolution to overthrow the system."
This was how my meeting with Arvind Kejriwal ended. Kejriwal responded that
he would never ever enter politics. That was a couple of days before the
famous August 20, 2011 fast of Anna Hazare at Ramlila Madian. We never met
before or later. He met me at the instance of a spiritual leader whom I hold
in high esteem. He had advised Kejriwal to meet me to know how the movements
against corruption in high places -- in which I was involved as part of the
Indian Express group in the 1970s and 1980s -- were carried on for long
periods.
The meeting took place at the Indian Express guest house at Sarvoday Enclave
in New Delhi.
A common friend, Darshak Hathi, had accompanied Kejriwal. Darshak was part
of India Against Corruption (IAC) team in its critical work of drafting the
Lok Pal Bill, of meeting the Prime Minister and other ministers. He was also
instrumental in mobilising the Art of Living volunteers who were initially
IAC's backbone. Darshak belongs to a respected political family, that of
Jaishuklal Hathi, a former Union minister. Darshak is now the international
director of Art of Living in Bangalore. He was witness to our dialogue which
went on for almost two hours.
I told Kejriwal that all anti-corruption movements were political. They were
invariably against the ruling party's corruption, co-opting the Opposition
parties in the fight. I cited the examples of the Bihar movement, the Nav
Nirman movement and the movement against Rajiv Gandhi over the Bofors
pay-off -- which led to the defeat of corrupt regimes. I told him that the
only way corruption could be fought was to punish the corrupt politicians by
defeating them in elections.
A movement to establish honesty in politics is impractical. The movement for
the Lok Pal Bill aimed at a better law to punish the corrupt, but overlooked
the issue of the unprecedented and ongoing corruption of the ruling party. I
also told him that for an anti-corruption movement to succeed, the first
requirement was a leadership which could bring all anti-establishment forces
to fight the ruling party's corruption.
Kejriwal's short reply was that such movements proved futile as corruption
had continued even thereafter. He insisted that a movement to clean the
political system was needed. I asked him whether he was seeding a
revolution. Responding theoretically, he said that he was mobilising
people's power to correct the system. I moved to the next point and said the
unflinching support of one media outlet willing to risk its interests was
needed -- like the Indian Express which actually led the anti-corruption
battles. Kejriwal responded that he had the support of the entire media. I
told him that the media as a whole could not be trusted to support an
agitation for long and they would soon get divided. So relying on the
disparate media might prove dangerous.
He then named a media group which had promised total support to him.(Later I
checked up with them. They confirmed they were sympathetic to IAC but
wouldn't back them like Ramnath Goenka who would put his last penny in a
fight.)
I went on and told Kejriwal that there could not be an effective
anti-corruption movement without openly targeting the corrupt person. The
IAC, instead of naming and fighting the blatantly corrupt rulers, was
actually helping them by giving them opportunity to escape the blame by
supporting the Bill and thus claiming to be clean! In the process, they had
also gained the time they needed. Worse still, IAC was blaming all
politicians - clubbing and equating those who had looted the country of
lakhs of crores with, to say, pickpockets. In effect IAC was bailing out the
Congress which was virtually shameless about corruption.
At that point Arvind said the movement had gone too far into the apolitical
line. I said that, having taken up a political issue, to say that IAC would
handle it apolitically, was a contradiction. Anna's apolitical stature could
bring together the various shades of Opposition, like JP did.
Kejriwal then asked me pointedly, given where he stood, what should be done.
I suggested to him that IAC should course-correct itself. When Anna would
sit on a fast on August 20, the leaders of the Opposition parties might come
and garland him and he may ask them to sit with him on the stage for the
day. That would signal to the public who the buccaneers were.
Kejriwal responded that they could come and garland Anna but they should sit
in the audience. I said that was too much, as they had also spent decades in
public life and some of them had maintained standards through their life
which today's younger generation might find difficult to do. I noticed two
things throughout.
Kejriwal always took Anna's name and said Anna would not agree for this or
that. Next, he said that he could never cross Anna's apolitical line. When I
told him finally that he might himself have to form a political party to
fight the issue politically, he asserted that he had no political ambition
at all. I wished him well and the meeting ended. To be sure that I
recollected the conversation correctly I had sent the gist of the dialogue
to Darshak Hathi. He responded by his mail dated January 29, 2014: "This is
perfect".
I never reveal private conversations. I can vividly recall the personal
meeting a Bofors pay-off accused had with Ramnath Goenka and me at the
Express Towers in Mumbai in July 1989. He was accompanied by Mahesh
Jethmalani. He clearly told us that if he opened his mouth the Prime
Minister would have to go. Despite the fact that the Indian Express
desperately needed proof on Bofors pay-off, we did not even think of
publishing that incriminating but confidential statement. But there was
nothing confidential about Kejriwal's meeting or dialogue with me. We
discussed only public issues. Yet I refrained from making the dialogue with
Kejriwal public because it principally involved what I was telling him and
also there was no appropriate context for that till AAP formed the
government in Delhi.
Kejriwal's flip-flop-flip on almost every issue of principle made me feel
that he is not what he professes to be. He said he would not contest
elections, but he did. He said he wouldn't ally with the Congress, but he
did. He said the AAP wouldn't form the government, but it did. He said he
wouldn't hold any office, but he does. He said he would act against Sheila
Dixit within seven days of assuming power, but did not. These flip-flop-flip
made me recall what all he had told me. Several questions arose in my mind
over his intent ab initio. Was he honestly pursuing apolitical agenda in
IAC? Or was IAC just theatrical to co-opt the media and many respectable
persons which gave unprecedented publicity and image to IAC and himself?
Was apolitical IAC just a strategy to lure guileless Anna and throw him out
later? Would Kejriwal have deliberately used Anna knowing that a truly
apolitical and undoubtedly innocent Anna would be useful but irrelevant if
Kejriwal and his ambitious colleagues morphed IAC into the AAP? Where is the
IAC agenda now, will he tell the nation? Was the political AAP always
incubating in Kejriwal's mind even as he was espousing apolitical IAC?
Kejriwal needs to tell the nation why and when did he think of snuffing out
the IAC and giving birth to AAP. Unless he takes the country into confidence
and explains what made him ditch Anna and why he formed the AAP after
promising a million times that he would not enter politics, his political
morality will barely equal that of any Aam politician.
Unless he comes clean, he cannot and should not be trusted. What is the
guarantee that the man who fooled his mentor Anna will not fool the people?
S Gurumurthy is a well-known commentator on political and economic issues.
Email: comment@gurumurthy.net <mailto:comment@gurumurthy.net
http://www.newindianexpress.
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