If the dream has soured so soon, did it all begin in the origin? So how do we forget suddenly the euphoria, the stunning victory and the total wipe out of the arrogant corporate-backed Modi machine? A piece of history is not a joy forever, but does history repeat itself endlessly? Revisiting Arvind Kejriwal’s swearing-in: A first-hand account from the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi by Vikas.
It’s been just about a month and epistemological rupture seems to be fading into a predictable cliché. The rupture occurred stunningly and unpredictably with the complete wipe-out of the machine of arrogance and corporate power unleashed by Narendra Modi who took upon his mantle the aura of invincibility with as much seriousness and authority, as he did with his expensive and garishly colourful sartorial choices, including wearing a pink jacket with a pink kurta, and carrying an orange shawl on his shoulder even as he tried to hug a hesitant Barack Obama as his presidential aircraft landed in Delhi. That the Rs 10 lakh pinstriped designer suit turned out to be the last straw in the map was only strengthened by the fact that it became a joke across the country, a perverse and terrible joke in a poor country where, according to official statistics, more than 70 per cent of people live on just about Rs 28 plus-minus per day.
The huge chunk of migrants and poor in Delhi, who live in abysmally sub-human conditions, and who saw through the Modi charade, voted overwhelmingly against him, even as all the drama and melodrama at Madison Square with stinking rich Gujarati NRIs seemed to have finally boomeranged. The AAP stopped the Modi juggernaut, created a kaleidoscope of fantasies, brought a smile on the face of most secularists, and promised a clean political landscape with high hopes hanging on the high wire of unadulterated honesty, untouched by corruption or the obscene and exhibitionist frills of VVIP perks, privileges and power.
The sting, factionalism, bad blood, vicious attacks against each other, the coterie-isation, ghettoisation, cartelisation and back-stabbing which followed, therefore, appeared as jarring as a promise betrayed so quickly yet again. Was it predictable? Is this phenomena underscored in the underbelly of the essential organism that is AAP? Is Arvind Kejriwal basically a one-dimensional dictator in disguise?
All those questions came back as I remembered the first day of the euphoria. As I dissected the huge rally of victory, the seeds too started coming up with the roots. And yet, how can one forget that moment of revelation?
Even as the faction-fighting of a party turns it into another mediocre cliché, despite the hope and promises, it will be revealing to remember once again that day and the mood and the atmospherics, just a few moons away. Shall we?
The mood in Delhi Metro
14 February, 2015. There is excitement in the air and it is not about Valentine’s Day. Still it is about Delhi’s love affair with Arvind Kejriwal, which gave him a second chance at power. The AAP led by Kejriwal has bagged 67 seats out of 70 and that is historic. I am going for the ceremony at the Ramlila grounds.
I boarded the Delhi Metro at Hauz Khas at about 1040 hours. The crowd is more than what one would usually expect at this hour. There are not many in the white AAP caps. At Central Secretariat Metro station, huge crowds join us. So many of them are in white caps. I have never seen such crowds at Central Secretariat Metro station; for a moment it looked like we had reached Rajiv Chowk, where such a crowd is a norm. Now everyone is jostling for space in the train. The guy standing near me is clearly unhappy and mutters something in Hindi about AAP jamboree public events; he has two big bags and he can’t find a place to move leave alone settle comfortably as he stands.
New Delhi station comes. AAP people get down; the Ramlila Maidan is at a walking distance from here. I had never been to the Ramlila Maidan by metro but I had no problem in figuring out where to get down and which way to take after the exit from the station. You just had to join the wave (or tsunami, if you so prefer) of people and you will reach your destination; it is so in-your-face.
You get out of the metro and you have AAP volunteers, men and women, in trademark AAP cap lined up like hedge grass on both sides. They announce the route to Ramlila Maidan to you and suggest the direction with their hands. You don’t hear much, you don’t get it totally. But you feel reassured. You are in known territory; you just have to move with the people and you know you will be there. It’s like all roads lead to the Ramlila Maidan today.
Modi, Rahul, Sonia greet you en route to Maidan
You have about 500 metres of distance to cover before you can be in the Maidan. You want to see people; you expect a festival on the roads. The buzz is not as remarkable as it was during the IAC days but the enthusiasm is certainly there.
The first bus stop is Kamla Market after the metro station. It has a Congress ad on it: Ab faisla aapka, jhoote vaade karne wale ya kaam karne waale. Sonia and Rahul watch you pass by them and their exhortation that cut no ice with Delhi public. Congress is not alone; you have Modi and BJP waiting for you as you are headed to Ramlila Maidan. You pass by bus stops with Modi and his promises plastered over them. You smile as you realise the irony: it says ‘Dilli Chale Modi ke saath’ and you confidently walk past him, ignoring him, making it loud and clear as you heed the alternative politics call of AAP and Kejriwal for the second time in over a year.
Flaunt your AAP love
On both sides of the road, you have vendors wearing white AAP caps; the caps are always popular at the AAP gatherings. The fruit seller, the chaat seller, the paanwaala, the paapadwalla, the you-name it – everyone is sporting the cap. Either out of happiness and sympathy for the anti-corruption party or just to attract customers and photographers. There is hardly anyone who seems to be coming here alone; everyone is in a group. It reminds you of Chhath Puja in Bihar and Jharkhand; you walk toward the river with family and friends, every group nearing the ghaat is like a joint family circled around the fasting devotees in the family and carrying sugarcane bundles, bananas etc. Only in this case you have caps, mufflers, flags, badges, slogans, hands and fists raised in the air. Most of the people have some symbolic item for sporting the AAP love. Children seem to be perennial AAP supporters. They are always in caps and are found running with uncontrollable surges of energy.
The love of AAP sympathisers for symbols is also good business especially on this day. You have painters waiting with brush and paint bottles and you can get the national flag painted on your cheeks. And if you are lucky some photographer (and not necessarily a desi) will pass you with a big camera, expect you to take cue and accordingly pose. You can buy Kejriwal badges for Rs 10 and wear it proudly on your chest or arm. Young guys (who don’t look like usual street vendors) are selling AAP artifacts.
Big AAP flags with big Kejriwal on it are being sold for Rs 200. You grab one and chances are you won’t be missed in any crowd. It is one of those flags that TV cameras want to find in a crowd. A bargain ensues; the seller comes down to Rs 125 after reading a charter on the quality of textile and stuff used in the flag but the budget-minded supporter is still not impressed. The deal is not clinched.
AAP Poorvanchal Shakti
The walls on the sides of the road have some posters by MLA Asim Ahmad Khan and others giving ‘haardik abhinandan’ (hearty welcome) to Kejriwal and Delhiites. About 15 men are in small sizes in the photo with Kejriwal, Prof. Anand Kumar, Ashutosh and other AAP honchos in the top of the poster in bigger sizes. They have appended ‘Poorvanchal Shakti’ with AAP.
You are used to seeing such posters in Indian polity with every mainstream political party: small-time politicians trying to milk the sentiments and mood and promoting themselves in the garb of congratulatory messages. You expect AAP to be different. Things take time, you say to yourself and move on. These are aberrations on the road to Poorn Swaraj, so to speak. The MLA is also to take oath as minister in the AAP government.
Dhanyavaad Dilli, says Kejriwal
‘Dhanyavaad Dilli,’ says a big hoarding of Kejriwal on top of the entrance area placed above the Himmatgarh Ran Basera centre. There are about 20 technical security gates for entry from the side I go in. There are about ten such gates on the other side. Volunteers are tearing sacks with water pouches and distributing them among the people. Plastic pouches are strewn everywhere. Dustbin use and Swachh Bharat ethics is clearly not on the agenda of the Aam Aadmi today.
The Police are not allowing anyone to go in with cigarettes, match-boxes, gutkha or khaini sachets. You will have to get rid of that as you enter; a heap of tobacco products is the result by the gates. The Aam Aadmi has to shed some suicidal weight to enter the grounds.
The Police presence is not as heavy as it was in the days of the IAC agitation. The Police seem more hand in glove with people here; they are more relaxed and less in number. There is nothing in the air against them. It feels like they have been co-opted in the new power structures. Their role is more like a facilitator to the event and not a regulator like the IAC days; nobody feels threatened. There is also no worry on the faces of the Police personnel wearing the official yellow paper ID that precariously flutters on their chest; they appear to be enjoying it and look like Aam Aadmi in khaki.
Enter the Ramlila Grounds, a sea of white caps
Take the gate to the ground and you have volunteers lined up on the left to usher you in. They don’t have much to do except watching you pass by them. About 50 metres from the gate is the roped perimeter, which is the designated enclosure in the grounds for the gathering. You have about 35,000 chairs here. The place is full of people by the time I am there; this is clearly the last block of organised gathering in the grounds with seating arrangements.
Many are restless; some will randomly walk, shout slogans and look at the LCD screens. More people are pouring in; soon it will all be full. Announcement is being made for volunteers to stop people from entering the ground when needed to prevent any overcrowding and spillage.
Ten minutes in the grounds and you know that chairs were not the need today; it is a cover that people miss most. The sun is out of the wintery chill and has chosen the Kejriwal swearing-in day to communicate its glorious radiance. People, young and old, have thronged the place. Women, in public or in police, are less in number. Hordes of people shouting slogans come in the grounds, they usually come in groups (one shouting slogans, others in chorus).
The whole grounds look like a sea of white caps. As a rule of thumb seven out of ten people are wearing the white AAP caps. Someone has a huge national flag in the middle of the gathering on the right. It is hard to miss it as it waves constantly.
The mood of the Aam Aadmi in the Ramlila Maidan
Paanch Saal Kejriwal!
Bhaarat Mata ki Jai!
Vande Matram!
Slogans have filled the air. Someone shouts ‘Paanch saal Kejriwal Kyu? Kaho Pachaas Saal Kejriwal!’ His voice is lost in the din; nobody pays attention, he is clearly not the only one with slogans and wisdom today. An old man is beaming and says, ‘dekh rahe ho aam aadmi ki power, dikha diya aam aadmi ne!’ He extends his right hand, takes out his index finger, makes a semicircle with the right hand starting from left shoulder and ending it on the far right as he has roughly captured people’s power in one stroke. Nobody could disagree with him, his friend nods and smiles in agreement. People have indeed shown their power. 54 per cent of Delhi voted for AAP, which translated to 67 seats out of 70; that is a record of sorts in Indian electoral history. The Aam Aadmi stood united and gave the push Kejriwal needed. He is feeling proud about it. He deserves to. Everyone looks happy as if they are part and parcel of what is going on in the grounds. It is this feeling that has coalesced the multitude of aam aadmi. There is no ‘the powerful are givers and aam aadmi is receiver’ feeling; a genuine feeling of ‘people are masters and people have a say’ is in air. It is like some new freedom has descended upon people; something they clearly knew of and yearned for but had not realised it until today.
People look at the LCD screen to determine what is going on. Someone would suddenly erupt looking at the screen, which has poor sunlight visibility. Others would puncture his enthusiasm saying its not Kejriwal and team yet. Someone more knowledgeable with Aam Aadmi Party GK will try to name whoever is seen on the screen. People are getting impatient; sun is the spoiler here and admitting delay in delivery is not the public mood now. They want it to wind up soon.
More people are coming in. Policemen holding the rope are requesting people not to enter the area now. The public is in no mood to relent. Some smart ones have found chinks and pass from under the ropes and flash victorious smiles; policemen look the other way. The late comers – men with women have it easier; they enter the area with more confidence as their women duck with ease and pass from under the ropes followed by their men who also gain easy entry as a couple or family necessarily moving as one unit.
The roped perimeter has been breached. One group has thronged the premise ignoring the pleadings of the Police. One after the other, a lot of people have barged through the crowd. The Police fixed the rope again and nobody is unhappy about it. It is as if all knew the fate of the rope and were willing to acquiesce to it if usual regulatory pretense failed. Neta out, Aam Aadmi in! reads the cap of one AAP supporter.
One placard puts Bhagat Singh and Kejriwal together: mera rang de basanti Dilli. Phone cameras, selfie with the crowd as background is keeping people busy. A group has just come in; they look like an autowalla supporter group. Their placard is hard to miss. It juxtaposes PM Modi with CM Kejriwal or ‘AK-67’ with the lines and suitable arrow marks that probably nobody would need to use: Khas logon ka PM; Aam Aadmi ka CM! The group is running in the aisle as they shout slogans. This is the only Modi face in the grounds around me and it’s hard hitting. One placard has nailed the emerging image of the famed tea seller. Public conscience sees Modi as a poodle of rich, business interests; first eight months of his rule are testimony to that.
Some people have shifted their chairs closer to the LCD screen. Others take cue and drag the chairs and shift forward. Rows of chairs get moved further. It has disturbed the settings; some are reluctant to move and are clearly upset about this disturbance of coherence and self-discipline. There are pockets of empty spaces between rows and chairs now. What was an area lined with neat rows of chairs and people now looks like a dilapidated road with potholes.
Kerjriwal takes oath after the national anthem
Kejriwal and team have arrived. Some have stood on chairs as we hear a huge cheer. Others are shouting to those standing on chairs to sit and so that the LCD screen is visible to all. That request has no takers. Now a lot of people have stood on the chairs. An elderly woman with a Kejriwal badge on her right arm has given up hopes of any glimpse of the faraway stage or the LCD nearby. She sits sunken on a chair near the fence. Her AAP cap is shadowed by the shawl that she has put over herself for safety from the sun. Her relatives call her out to join them in standing on the chairs to get some view; she is indifferent to the call.
The national anthem is playing. Not everyone has noticed it. Most people have stood up but many are still seated.
‘Rashtra gaan hai, uth jaao. Arre utho rashtra gaan hai’. Many more stand up as the anthem progresses; some people are clearly very impatient that some have not stood up. Some try to hum the anthem, hardly anyone around knows the full anthem; they try to hum here and there. The Jaya he, Jaya he part has maximum participation; it is among the easiest parts of the anthem, you just have to go with the flow. By the end of the anthem, almost everyone has stood up.
An argument followed the anthem; a young guy and a middle aged man have verbal exchanges. It takes some two minutes to die down; an old man nearby has successfully pacified the young man who is silent now. A middle-aged man in a grey suit stands near the LCD screen. His stature, good looks, golden watch, dark glasses are not his best features. He has a girl child on his right shoulder, in all probability his daughter. The cute girl is wearing an AAP cap, which is too big for her head; it is almost hugging her eyebrows. She seems to be enjoying the bird’s eye view atop his father’s shoulders. The father-daughter duo reminds you of images from the world of lawn tennis: Federer flanked by his twin daughters after a major win. The trophy looks less remarkable after those pictures; daughters lord over it. Such is the powerful effect of a father-daughter ensemble.
Paapadwallas are doing brisk business. Pale rice papads, two for Rs 10, come with a sprinkle of masala. Many paapadwallas are inside the ground. I ask one wearing the AAP cap to give me three for Rs 10 and he declines it. Later another seller agrees to give me three paapads for Rs 10; I decline it. My idea is a price and situation survey, not consumption. I also ask them the difficulty, if any, they face in entering the grounds. One of them says the police obviously stop them but there are ways to find an entry.
Kejriwal is taking oath as Delhi’s CM. Many clap in enthusiasm. Some raise both hands in support. The audio is not very clear; you cannot hear everything. But then you know you came to Maidan to witness the excitement and not necessarily to comprehend the text of the oath.
People start departing, addicts lose deposits
The sun is taking a toll on humanity. Kejriwal has taken the oath. Some people have started to move; it is the first movement away from the concentrated mass of people. Others too join them as if on cue. I am also leaving the area. The departing crowd of people looks like a new tributary flowing away from the mainstream river to reach the exit gate. Now we have enough people to clog the exit route. People are shouting and asking the policemen to open the other gate as well. The other gate opens when the police realise that it could be a panic situation soon. I feel the squash as I find my way out of the gate.
A very interesting scene unfolds near the security gates. Hordes of men and kids have thronged the heap of tobacco products. Nobody knows what belongs to whom, people are picking up what they want to in the heap. One person is ruing the loss of his belongings in that heap. Kids rummage through the heap. In no time only beedi, khaini and gutkhas have remained; more expensive stuff like cigarette boxes are clearly with those who came and claimed first.
Some policemen are eating in a corner. They sit facing the wall to avoid notice and occasionally turn their heads to see the crowd. Two senior looking policemen wipe their hands with newspapers; it looks like they had their fill. They have the trademark Delhi Police bulbous stomach.
AAP ka Cola! Chew that.
I move and reach the roundabout on my way to the metro station. Something important is clearly going on here; it’s very chaotic. It looks like people are getting free food and drinks. People have climbed on the roundabout park grill; cold drink bottles are strewn on the road. You see men and children running around the roundabout to beat the competition and grab a bottle. I peep in; you see volunteers standing by what look like supplies. There are cartons with water pouches and other covered stuff.
I pick up one empty cold drink bottle. The name is ‘AAP ka Cola’, and the tagline is ‘Drink n Fight for Right’. I check more bottles. There are ‘AAP ka Lemon’ flavour, ‘AAP ka Orange’, and ‘AAP ka Surprise’ flavour too. The company has put up flex banners congratulating Kejriwal. My first thought is that some people are milking the opportunity and using the AAP name dishonestly. Cola is symbolic of bad health, obesity, unabashed pleasure and market economy, even status quo. AAP on cola bottles is just so incongruous. The AAP cola makers (Shri Brahm Shakti Prince Beverages Pvt Ltd) have even applied for registration of the brand name; they claim to have distributed 35,000 bottles free of cost at the event and are AAP supporters. The country is becoming a global capital for diabetes and heart problems and here we have none other than the AAP acquiescing to sell colas!
Ab badlegi Dilli, says the flex banner put up by the company in its advertisement congratulating AAP and soliciting dealers.
AAP and Swachh Bharat
I shoot some pictures of the litter on the road. Someone observes and passes a sarcastic remark suggesting I must be from the rival camp and will show these (to the world) later. I ignore the remark. I squat and take more photos of the litter. There are clearly placed plastic sacks to be used as dustbins. A few are overflowing; some remain mostly unused. We Indians love tossing litter on the road, which is quintessentially aam aadmi: all of us do it. Aam aadmi ethics need an overhaul too. Fundamental duties of citizens in the constitution of India talk about saving the environment too. Not many even know about that.
Prime Minister Modi is building Swachh Bharat castles in the air without even mentioning the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules that necessitate segregation of waste at source and suitable recycling. At least you expect AAP to instill the habits of waste segregation in Delhi so that recyclable waste is segregated from food waste, composting of food waste is undertaken at the mohalla level and Delhi stops adding to the gargantuan garbage dumps and stops using those garbage incinerators. Delhi’s deadly pollution (asthma, lung cancer is on the rise; morning and evening air is most polluted) and environment (we have lost the CNG-era gains, you could have a smokers’ lungs just by living in Delhi) was not an electoral matter this time though it featured in AAP manifesto. You hope at least the AAP to make Delhi a model city on this front. It is just their 50th day in power; I am willing to wait.
Modi, Rahul meet you again
I take the road to the metro station. A preened Modi and an ever-awkward Rahul watch you pass by them. A lot of people have gathered around an LCD screen on the road with Aaj Tak relaying Kejriwal’s speech. Kejriwal taunts the media that he needs a house and facilities because hundreds of people will come every day to meet him. People let out a roaring laughter, some jeer in approval. Everything he says on screen is matched with a round of applause on the road. There is a traffic jam because of the gathering but the speech is the most important thing on that road today. No one is unhappy, buses honk and wade into the crowd and travellers stick their neck out to see the screen. When Kejriwal says the people have become the CM today, every aam aadmi there including yours truly feels instant empowerment; some shout with joy when they can’t hold the pleasure.
I am inside the New Delhi metro station now. A lot of people seem to have left the Maidan before the programme has ended so that they can avoid the rush in the metro. Three women AAP supporters are walking leisurely on the stairs without realising they are blocking the traffic to platform for the HUDA train. I politely ask them to excuse me and they oblige. One of them introduces the other to the white woman as I pass by them: she’s a lawyer and she is also preparing for civil services exam…’
‘Oh, that’s…’
I couldn’t hear the whole conversation.
I am in the metro. It’s full of AAP supporters. Pregnant with hopes. Paanch Saal Kejriwal is a reality now; all wait for him to deliver.
Whither AAP?
A month has passed since the said swearing-in event. AAP and its leaders are now in public consciousness for thoughtless bickering and its spokesmen for defending untenable positions on news channels.
Kejriwal is back in Delhi with health gains after spending sixteen days in Jindal Naturecure Institute; his first visit to the institute was in 2012 with Anna Hazare. His party may be helping the promotion of colas but the chief medical officer (CMO) of the institute has officially said that ‘high consumption of aerated drinks’ was one of the reasons for his poor health.
A chasm is appearing between AAP talk and AAP practice. It needs to put its house in order if it is has to be a force of reckoning in Indian polity. We have seen fly-by-night political successes in Indian politics. If AAP does not walk the talk then people will walk away from it sooner rather than later. The CMO has said that Kejriwal is largely detoxified now and his entire system is rejuvenated. Everyone has hopes that he will detoxify the party and his own ways now. The CMO also says that Kejriwal did not follow the lifestyle changes that he had learnt at the institute in 2012. People hope that he will learn from the lessons he gets now both on the health and the behavioral fronts so that all is well with fitness and fame.
