The downside slip of Arvind Kejriwal, as manifested by his dharna against Union Home Minister for as frivolous a cause as the demand for suspension of some policemen and then grabbing the face saving offer of sending them on leave for withdrawing the agitation hastily , was as disappointing a phenomenon as phenomenal and euphoric had been his emergence on political firmament with a bang . And now, his exit from Delhi, after he could find an escape route to get pushed to the national scene, with general elections round the corner, leaves many amongst millions, who had pinned hopes with him and his Aam Admi Party, in a state of fix, though the aura around him lingers on and people seem to cling to him even now with the bag of hopes on their backs .
Whatever be the case , this certainly leaves me, and perhaps many like me, worried since we had started looking at him as the harbinger of change that the country so badly needs , the torch bearer who may beacon light to put the nation on the right track. My worry emanates from inevitable assessment that he is not the stuff for the national scene, unless he shows up signs of dramatic changes in his personality, attitude and style of working on a mission. Not that I had expected miracle from him or from his newly formed party. To be honest, I had reservations initially about Kejriwal and his party’s capability which I aired unhesitatingly only to be the butt of friendly scoffs in course of discussions in drawing rooms.
I had reason for my reservations about Kejriwal even on the face of his overwhelming popularity when he wiped out the then ruling party in the Assembly elections of Delhi. I had reservations because he could not measure in my eye to be really able to make a dent into the existing political system of India which , to my mind, is at the root of all ills and evils that have been eating up the vitals of the country like moth, leading to all round frustrations despite apparent glamour and prosperity. The fact is that we expected our democracy and democratic institutions to come of age by now. Instead, what have matured and got deeply entrenched into our socio-political life are the ills and evils associated with democracy. Somehow, the system of governance, which otherwise is deemed ideal for human existence with dignity, stands woefully polluted and has become breeding ground for ills and evils like corruption, nepotism ,parochialism, casteism, communalism, to name only a few. I am afraid that an old adage: ‘Politics is the last refuge of a scoundrel’ may not become the order of the day later or sooner. And the task of cleaning the rotten system seems to be an utopia, perhaps as impossible a task to achieve as was the plan of the rats to tie a bell round the neck of a cat which had been hounding and devouring them one by one every day by stealthily treading on their space. Who was to do it?
But I started entertaining hopes with the new party and its leader, dismissing my earlier stance of disapproval , when I looked at Kejriwal’s advent in political arena against the backdrop of this utterly depressing scenario. When he sent chilled waves in political circles, engulfing even age old political parties, shaking even the political veterans of established outfits by buffets of his stormy victory in Delhi elections, I started nourishing the thought that , may be , he is the one who may lead the light in the right direction and put the nation on track. A ray of hope kindled on the horizon. While his upward swing could be attributed to his superb leadership qualities and ability to pull masses who are desperate to locate an alternative to the existing political parties, doubts are now overtaking us that he may not really come up to our tall expectations because of some compulsive parts of his personality. One of the telling weaknesses that his personality appears to reflect as a leader is his impulsive temperament . Once his brain is fired by an idea , his agitating mindset would not let him stop and think . He would jump the guns, whatever the results. And a massive systemic change in a country as vast and as diverse as India does not come by thoughtless haste, howsoever sincere be the intentions . It needs a cool and calculative mind added to superb leadership attributes that can make a difference.
Kejriwal, perhaps, needs to be advised by the intellectual giants in the country who have so far chosen to sit in their protected professional boundaries and then he may be able to work out a sensible and foolproof road map, after thread bare analysis of the ills that have crept in the system . It is only when wisdom is mixed with emotions that some tangible results can be expected, for emotional approach may pull the masses that may be needed to support the struggle, wisdom will guide the leadership to carve its way ahead to reach the set objectives. Otherwise, it remains the cry in the wilderness.
