AAP - A reflection of the Common Man

For too long, voters in the capital, just as voters across the country have been treated by political parties as "necessary nuisance" - the stepping stone to capturing power every five years. In comes a newbie, the Aam Aadmi Party AAP with its muffler clad, bespectacled chief Arvind Kejriwal- his appearance not too different from RK Laxman's ‘Common Man’.

As meteoric was the rise of AAP and its coming to power in 2013, (much to the chagrin of established political parties the Congress and the BJP); equally swift was its decline. When AAP stepped away from office, Congress and BJP cashed in on it labelling Kejriwal a "fugitive." What political parties miscalculated was the power of AAP to draw "empathy" from the public, the masses.

The working class in the capital, the economically weaker sections- interestingly find a reflection of themselves in Kejriwal.His candid admission of "error of judgement" in having quit office after 49 days, was perceived as any human error. An act they were ready to forgive and move on. Its come as a surprise to old politicos that their "bhagoda" slur has not clicked. 

A news report in Firstpost quotes how the local residents in Shaheen Bagh, Okhla who doubled up as AAP supporters kept the crowd riveted to their seats as they waited for Kejriwal to arrive. A female AAP worker exhorts the crowd posing rhetorical questions about who is Arvind Kejriwal "Isn’t he the man who wants corruption-free Delhi? Isn’t he the shopkeeper, the auto-rickshaw driver who doesn’t want to pay bribes? Isn’t he the mother who wants her children to go to a good school? Isn’t he the middle-class man who wants lower electricity bills? Aren’t you, all of us Arvind Kejriwal ?" she says to thunderous applause. 

One of the AAP phone call adverts that I received, stands out from the clutter with its appeal not by Kejriwal the party chief but by an ordinary resident who hails from UP, an 'Anil Shukla'. Unaccompanied by any party slogan or background music, he recounts how people from Bihar and UP have been shunned by political parties in the capital as outsiders, but have found respect and even bagged 11 tickets from AAP. The personal has touched a chord with the large section of Poorvanchali working class in my neighbourhood. 

Parties like the Congress whose traditional vote bank is the same segment that has moved onto AAP, are trying their best to catch up with AAP, adopting their techniques- door to door personal appeal, small public gatherings with a more personal approach. But try as they might, a Kiran Bedi or an Ajay Maken, lacks the down- to- earth appeal of a half sleeve shirt / sweater and trouser clad Kejriwal. Even when political rivals rile him viciously, Kejriwal’s riposte with a smile and without resorting to ‘neta’ like hyperbole, is a hit with the ‘janta.’

While traditional parties attack AAP for dubious source of funding, the public perceives, it as an attempt by one of them to challenge status quo and how they are squashed every time. Infact, AAP funds saw a Rs 66 lakh surge on Tuesday after the allegedly BJP backed AVAAM expose. 

Whatever the contradictions, the inner hierarchies, the political machinations within AAP, for the public atleast, he is but 'one of them' who can take on the system ie the established political parties. If Kejriwal's gambit as the Aam Aadmi pays off yet again - established political parties have loads to worry about.