Just when you think that the Kejriwal and AAP are done with their antics, they comes back with a faux pas in their own unique way. After being unable to make any substantial gains after a massive victory in Delhi assembly elections and most recently facing a complete rout in Meghalaya and Nagaland, the AAP geared up for another election defeat in the state of Haryana to be held in October next year.
Merely within a day of sounding the poll bugle in the state, reports have emerged that the Kejriwal led party tried to lure labourers at Kejriwal’s Hisar rally by promising a payment of Rs. 350 along with money, gifts, food and drinks. This has left the self acclaimed clean party of India red faced and embarrassed to the core. While it is not uncommon in political rallies to entice poor people by luring them, it might be for the first time that a party duped even the labourers that it lured by going back on its promises. The labourers have reportedly claimed that the AAP has refused to shell out anything even though they took part in the rally organized by the AAP. The AAP wasted their wage day by making fake promises but thereafter they neither got food nor money. It is ironical and tragic that how a party which calls itself the messiah of the poor and the downtrodden started its election campaign by stooping to the level of harassing poor labourers. It seems that coming under the scanner for pulling in crowds by unfair means is too mainstream for the self proclaimed cleanest party in the country.
Unaffected and unabashed by this act of cheating poor and innocent labourers, Arvind Kejriwal continued to make tall and lucrative poll promises during his rally. He formally announced that AAP would contest the elections to be held next year. He also took the pledge of forming AAP government in the state next year and to do what other parties have failed to deliver in the previous regimes. However, one fails to understand how one can trust Kejriwal’s tall promises made at the rally when he and his party have started breaking its promises even before the elections have been formally announced. His track record in Delhi speaks volumes for itself and his party’s casual attitude towards governance.
This incident will no doubt have a fatal impact on AAP’s already bleak prospects but it can relish about the fact that with this AAP comes closest to becoming the biggest source of entertainment in the Indian politics.
This incident is in fact, reminiscent of Lalu’s rallies or “Raillas” as he called them. It was alleged that Lalu gave away huge amounts of cash, food and liquor (Daaru aur Murga in local dialect), Saris and blankets to ensure massive crowds at his Gareeb Rallies and Raillas. Almost every rally of his witnessed humungous crowds, a silent testimonial to the fact that the attendees were well taken care of. So what Kejriwal did today, Lalu did two decades back and he did it better than Kejriwal.
However amusing this incident maybe, there is also a dark side to the events that have unfolded. It only further corroborates that AAP is the biggest tragic comedy of the present decade. It emerged out of a movement that promised to rid politics of rampant corruption. The movement had promised to stray clear of any active involvement in party politics but thereafter joined party politics on the excuse of compulsion. However, the party has thereafter shown its true colours. Its promise of changing Indian politics has turned out to be a sham. Just consider this, a party which came to spotlight for its sole agenda of cleansing Indian politics of corruption has been involved in donations by shell companies, ministers with fake degrees and now unfair means prior to elections. The party and its leadership (which resides primarily in one face) have remained mum over all this. The fact that AAP could promise such hefty amount to be doled out is suggestive of the quantum of illegitimate money that it must have generated. AAP had emerged as a ray of hope to the ordinary citizens but today it is doing exactly what it had promised to end.