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AAP's Mega-Victory

By Adfer Syed. Dated: 2/13/2015 11:21:42 PM

Good luck often comes in waves

The BJP wave tossed itself against the capital shore and AAP pulled them back out to sea, rightly branded as AAP Tsunami. This time in Delhi it was not any bought, prior, and informed consent that constituted AAP's sweeping victory but the informed crowd that made the broom win. One of the most important elements of the Delhi voting behavior is her critical masses who keep on analyzing the political brigades/situations and more importantly the staunch voters/fans (solid vote bank) of particular parties are too less and the public with critical sense is more in number. BJP's rout besides Congress diminishing to historical zero clearly reflected Delhi's informed crowd where every person is a smart voter/twitter-face book voter who understands the pressing issues and politics around.
People's bulk participation reflected by the winning margins of AAP candidates due to AAP Tsunami simultaneously challenged many myths like the vote bank based on regionalism, casteism, radicalism, and scores of other age old gimmicks, etc,. Also AAP's ascent tells us that earlier who were treated as street jokers are now mature social engineers who manufactured a significant change not by hitting the age old polarising issues but peoples' routine life challenges and aspirations.AAP added a humane touch to politics and not mechanised it for publicity which was hailed by masses. On the one hand, now what remains to be seen is how AAP carries its challenging and apparently difficult manifesto forward to meet the peoples huge aspirations.BJP on the other hand, needs a serious introspection on over confidence (what people see as arrogance) and relying upon the subsided Modi wave, while the already surrendered Congress needs to rise from the ashes and see how to restructure especially its Delhi unit which is devoid of any visible leadership and lacks ample marketing.BJP and Congress party's rout teaches us that the capital politics cannot be run or mere oratory and mudslinging but substance and human touch. The AAP rise definitely gives a clear message which is that if you want to win Delhi you need to have the ability to understand this city and millions of its aspirations.
Big rally politics and grand theatrics of politics needs to be revisited as only rally's hardly convert to votes here. The new age politics of reading the peoples' aspirations and real ground level connect (preferential option for the poor) is much important. Also just parachuting of big faces to contest at the eleventh hour policy is bound to fail because basic foot work and firm roots is more important than the celebrity status. They say waves are inspiring but it is equally true that they rise and fall. Before this wave subsides, let AAP start delivering so that the smart voter doesn't feel cheated. Let they not rely on or turn arrogant on their wave unlike their opposites and only believe in the waves of love.
(Adfar Shah is a Delhi Based Sociologist and Columnist at Pointblank7.Mailat adfer.syed@gmail.com)