Kejriwal in Fortune Magazine for a Failed Odd Even

Kejriwal in Fortune Magazine – Tell me a funnier joke

Earlier this week, Fortune Magazine compiled a list of the world’s fifty greatest leaders. The only Indian Political Leader to make it on that list is Arvind Kejriwal. Something at Fortune is drastically wrong. Even little known leftist blog Janta Ka Reporter would think twice before adding Kejriwal’s name to such a list!

Fortune’s description of the world’s fifty greatest leaders goes like this: “…these men and women are transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same.” They had Kejriwal in Fortune Magazine coveted list for his odd-even initiative. Vehicles with an even number were allowed to ply on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays while vehicles with odd numbers were allowed to ply on the other days and on Sundays. The duration of this initiative was only fifteen days since this leg of the exercise was on a trial basis. Furthermore, Kejriwal has stated on record that something of this nature is not feasible in a city like Delhi. How exactly he has “transformed the world and inspired others to do the same” escapes people.

Kejriwal in Fortune Magazine even as Pollution ceased to decrease

The Delhi government claims that the odd-even scheme brought down Delhi’s pollution levels. Experts across the spectrum disagree. Air pollution levels fluctuate through the day and follow different patterns through the year. According to most experts, two weeks is too short a span of time to arrive at a decisive verdict. Furthermore, air pollution caused by private vehicles is a tiny fraction of the total air pollution. Most of it comes from construction and industries.

Fortune’s entire basis of including Kejriwal to this list is on a shaky foundation. It looks as if the magazine hasn’t done its homework. But perhaps there is more to it than meets the eye. It is entirely possible that for the sake of political correctness or inclusiveness, a magazine such as Fortune felt compelled to have at least one Indian on the list. How it is that they chose Arvind Kejriwal, is what has sent shockwaves in certain quarters.

Kejriwal in Fortune Magazine because well! You need at least one Indian

If they were looking to have at least one Indian on the list to seem inclusive, the chief minister of a union territory was a long shot. There are several others who were more eligible for that list than Mr. Kejriwal.  Mr. Modi and his team are genuinely “transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same.” Many chief ministers and social workers are paving the way for a better India. For some reason, all of them have been overlooked. Mr. Kejriwal is a slick player, who piggybacked off an anti-corruption movement and carved out a space for himself in the Indian political arena. Today his party is full of corrupt legislators. His flip-flops on every issue have become legendary. His party’s support for movements which threaten the country’s sovereignty is out in the open. How he brazenly makes use of taxpayers’ money for self-promotion is for all to see. And yet, this is the leader that Fortune picked.

Kejriwal in Fortune Magazine, hey Give MSM a little credit too!

A part of the blame lies with the Indian mainstream media. The media showers disproportionate attention on him and his party. No chief minister of a union territory with only four representatives in parliament gets so much airtime. The mainstream media hardly ever exposes his party’s many hypocrisies. They keep projecting him as this simple muffler-clad middle class man taking on a corrupt ecosystem. Anyone who opposes Narendra Modi becomes a mainstream media poster boy, and in Kejriwal they have found a man who appeals to an ignorant class of people. What is sad is that the global mainstream media blindly parrots the Indian mainstream media’s misrepresentations when they speak about India themselves.

We cannot attribute any other motives to this ‘Kejriwal in Fortune Magazine’ shocker. Hardly anyone in India even knows of the existence of such a magazine, and even fewer care about any list they compile. Whether it deserves an answer is itself debatable. This article was simply to put into context the source of bafflement of a handful of people.