Aam Aadmi Party Vows to Wipe out Corruption
The anti-corruption movement that started last year with a much fanfare and public enthusiasm faded away and ended in a whimper. Anna and his team failed to sustain the mass support which they gained in the beginning of their movement.
In such a situation when they were losing the populist patronage, they had only two options—either to expand their civic movement remaining outside the political participation or to form their own political wing.
Anna himself decided to continue with the non-political path, while Arvind Kejriwal along with his supporters formed a new political party, ‘Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’. Which supporters of the party said “would bring about transparency in politics and serve as an alternative to India’s national parties.”
But the question that arises here is this: Can the party generate the support of the Indian public?
It may be tough for AAP to survive in the political world which is mainly dominated by two major political parties—BJP and Congress. However, the recent attacks on Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra, or BJP president Nitin Gadkari, has helped the newly formed party to gain media attention and confidence of people.
We posted a poll, “Can Arvind Kejriwal's new party entrench itself as a populace political force?” A majority of the voters (69%) think that Kejriwal’s new party will be able to bring transparency and help curb corrupt practices in the Indian political system. Whereas only 31 per cent think otherwise.
A respondent commented in the poll saying, “The launch of a new political party, the Aam Aadmi Party, led by Kejriwal, is welcome. I hope it will bring transparency and accountability in the political system.”
To emerge as a national party, Kejriwal needs to firmly plant himself as a leader at grass-roots. The party must start populist campaigns against corruption, rather than raising allegations against individual persons, by acting in a more inclusive way. AAP must also move beyond fighting corruption to evolve into a party with an agenda that addresses all of India’s problems.