<b>Shekhar Gupta:</b> Anti-establishment conformist's age

Even as it seeks political power, AAP has maintained anti-establishmentarianism as its core

The Anna movement began nearly eight years ago with an anti-politician war-cry. All that was wrong with Indian society, polity, economy and society was blamed on our politics and leaders. The word “neta” became a pejorative. He may not wish to be reminded of it now, but best-selling writer Chetan Bhagat coined the leitmotif of the movement: mera neta chor hai (my politician is a thief). The anti-corruption movement soon evolved into a kind of middle-crust, urban professional revolt against the “rotten” political class and system.
 
A good example of its appeal cutting across ideological lines was that we