http://blogs.timesofindia.
28 January 2014, 10:49 PM IST
Arvind Kejriwal has tapped into India`s love of anarchy
Mahatma Gandhi told the British: "Leave India to God or to anarchy." Sixty-six years after Independence, India seems to be fulfilling this prophecy, in terms of anarchy. In what has widely been seen as a veiled reference to Arvind Kejriwal`s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), President Pranab Mukherjee in his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day said that "popu-list anarchy cannot be a substitute for good governance".
Was the president referring to the constitutional propriety — or impropriety — of a duly elected chief minister sitting in dharna in effect against his own administration? Whether or not the reference was indeed to AAP, Kejriwal has picked up the gauntlet and said that he would welcome a national debate on the subject, which hinges around AAP's style of functioning which an increasing number of commentators — including former supporters — are describing as being 'anarchic'.
'Anarchy' means 'an absence of law or government'. Can any government — which is supposed to be the embodiment of the rule of law in society — be 'anarchic', represent an absence of government, an absence of itself? Is such a political paradox possible?
In India, it is not just possible but in fact has been in practice for many years. For all the increasing clamour of the urgent need of 'good governance', India has always been what is often described as a 'functioning anarchy', a society in which rules exist only in order to be broken, or openly flouted.
India has an innate genius for anarchy, for operating without any rules at all. We call this lack of rules by various names, our famed knack of 'jugaad' being one of them. Whether it is negotiating everyday traffic on the road, trying out a recipe for a new dish, or playing a piece of classical music, India improvises: it improvises through jugaad, andaz, extemporisation, ad hocism, call it what you will.
There is only one cardinal rule in India, and that is that there are no hard and fast rules for doing anything, from driving a car or a two-wheeler, to conducting business, or achieving one's goals by whatever means at hand.
This open flouting of rules is often demanded as a 'right'. Students sitting for an exam will smash up the premises where the test is being held if they are denied their 'right' to resort to mass 'copying'. Members of a particular caste or community will claim as their 'right' to go on a mob rampage and vandalise public property if their demands for quotas, or reservations or a separate state, or whatever else it is that they want, aren't met.
Self-appointed 'moral police' — a euphemism for goons and thugs — assert their 'right' to beat up anyone whose dress or behaviour offends against 'Indian culture', whatever that convenient catchphrase means. Netas convicted under law for multi-crore scams will proclaim their 'right' to be tried only by the 'court of the people'.
So, is Arvind Kejriwal an anarchist? If he isn't, he'd better become one if he's to get anywhere in the anarchy of India's public life.
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http://www.livemint.com/
New Delhi: The young anti-corruption party that stormed to power in Delhi last month plans to field at least 73 candidates in Lok Sabha elections due by May to stand against politicians accused of crimes, said its leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday.
Following its strong performance in Delhi, interest in the year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has surged. Since an announcement earlier this month that it would
contest the general election, its membership has passed 10 million.
Until now AAP had not said how many of the 540 lower house parliamentary seats it might contest in an election pitting the centre-left governing coalition against front runner opposition candidate Narendra Modi.
While polls suggest the debutante party is unlikely to win more than a dozen or so seats, its success in Delhi has shaken up the national race, with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party both aping AAP’s anti-elite, anti-corruption language.
Even a small clutch of seats for the AAP could be enough to deny Modi a chance at forming a government, and give Arvind Kejriwal a say in national policy.
The AAP will put up candidates in constituencies of 73 members of parliament who face serious criminal charges. Candidates will also stand for the seats of central government ministers which the party believes are corrupt, Kejriwal said in
an interview with Reuters.
“The most important thing is there are a large number of cabinet ministers who have indulged in corruption, they need to be defeated,” Kejriwal said.
“There are nearly 162 people in Lok Sabha who have criminal charges against them and there are 73 out of them who have serious charges against them. They need to be defeated, we will put up strong candidates against them,” said Kejriwal, who was sworn in as the head of Delhi’s city government on 28 December
Voters are notorious for rewarding candidates with criminal accusations against them. Politicians accused of crimes had a higher success rate than others in the last parliamentary election in 2009.
“It is for the people to decide if they want to support clean politics or not. Earlier the people used to say they didn’t have an option, now we will provide them with a clean option,” Kejriwal said.
The AAP is expected to also field national election candidates in constituencies in New Delhi and in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab. REUTERS
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JUGGLE-BANDHI
Anarchy Inc
Jug Suraiya28 January 2014, 10:49 PM IST
Mahatma Gandhi told the British: "Leave India to God or to anarchy." Sixty-six years after Independence, India seems to be fulfilling this prophecy, in terms of anarchy. In what has widely been seen as a veiled reference to Arvind Kejriwal`s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), President Pranab Mukherjee in his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day said that "popu-list anarchy cannot be a substitute for good governance".
Was the president referring to the constitutional propriety — or impropriety — of a duly elected chief minister sitting in dharna in effect against his own administration? Whether or not the reference was indeed to AAP, Kejriwal has picked up the gauntlet and said that he would welcome a national debate on the subject, which hinges around AAP's style of functioning which an increasing number of commentators — including former supporters — are describing as being 'anarchic'.
'Anarchy' means 'an absence of law or government'. Can any government — which is supposed to be the embodiment of the rule of law in society — be 'anarchic', represent an absence of government, an absence of itself? Is such a political paradox possible?
In India, it is not just possible but in fact has been in practice for many years. For all the increasing clamour of the urgent need of 'good governance', India has always been what is often described as a 'functioning anarchy', a society in which rules exist only in order to be broken, or openly flouted.
India has an innate genius for anarchy, for operating without any rules at all. We call this lack of rules by various names, our famed knack of 'jugaad' being one of them. Whether it is negotiating everyday traffic on the road, trying out a recipe for a new dish, or playing a piece of classical music, India improvises: it improvises through jugaad, andaz, extemporisation, ad hocism, call it what you will.
There is only one cardinal rule in India, and that is that there are no hard and fast rules for doing anything, from driving a car or a two-wheeler, to conducting business, or achieving one's goals by whatever means at hand.
This open flouting of rules is often demanded as a 'right'. Students sitting for an exam will smash up the premises where the test is being held if they are denied their 'right' to resort to mass 'copying'. Members of a particular caste or community will claim as their 'right' to go on a mob rampage and vandalise public property if their demands for quotas, or reservations or a separate state, or whatever else it is that they want, aren't met.
Self-appointed 'moral police' — a euphemism for goons and thugs — assert their 'right' to beat up anyone whose dress or behaviour offends against 'Indian culture', whatever that convenient catchphrase means. Netas convicted under law for multi-crore scams will proclaim their 'right' to be tried only by the 'court of the people'.
So, is Arvind Kejriwal an anarchist? If he isn't, he'd better become one if he's to get anywhere in the anarchy of India's public life.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
AAP to take on tainted politicians in LS polls: Kejriwal
Candidates will also stand for the seats of central govt ministers which the party believes are corrupt, says Kejriwal
Kejriwal
says there are nearly 162 people in Lok Sabha who have criminal charges
against them and there are 73 out of them who have serious charges
against them. They need to be defeated, we will put up strong candidates
against them. Photo: Hindustan Times
New Delhi: The young anti-corruption party that stormed to power in Delhi last month plans to field at least 73 candidates in Lok Sabha elections due by May to stand against politicians accused of crimes, said its leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday.
Following its strong performance in Delhi, interest in the year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has surged. Since an announcement earlier this month that it would
contest the general election, its membership has passed 10 million.
Until now AAP had not said how many of the 540 lower house parliamentary seats it might contest in an election pitting the centre-left governing coalition against front runner opposition candidate Narendra Modi.
While polls suggest the debutante party is unlikely to win more than a dozen or so seats, its success in Delhi has shaken up the national race, with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party both aping AAP’s anti-elite, anti-corruption language.
Even a small clutch of seats for the AAP could be enough to deny Modi a chance at forming a government, and give Arvind Kejriwal a say in national policy.
The AAP will put up candidates in constituencies of 73 members of parliament who face serious criminal charges. Candidates will also stand for the seats of central government ministers which the party believes are corrupt, Kejriwal said in
an interview with Reuters.
“The most important thing is there are a large number of cabinet ministers who have indulged in corruption, they need to be defeated,” Kejriwal said.
“There are nearly 162 people in Lok Sabha who have criminal charges against them and there are 73 out of them who have serious charges against them. They need to be defeated, we will put up strong candidates against them,” said Kejriwal, who was sworn in as the head of Delhi’s city government on 28 December
He did not say how many, or which, government ministers would be a target.
Voters are notorious for rewarding candidates with criminal accusations against them. Politicians accused of crimes had a higher success rate than others in the last parliamentary election in 2009.
“It is for the people to decide if they want to support clean politics or not. Earlier the people used to say they didn’t have an option, now we will provide them with a clean option,” Kejriwal said.
The AAP is expected to also field national election candidates in constituencies in New Delhi and in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab. REUTERS
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