Kejriwal: A Riddle Wrapped in a Muffler

This dapper man evokes extreme emotions and has stirred up the political cauldron much to the discomfort of the political class. He has his legion of diehard topi clad followers, while detractors equate him with a recent Bollywood movie title Nautanki Sala (a man high on histrionics but zero on substance). Before Delhi elections everyone wondered how he and his partymen are going to salvage their deposit, but after the spectacular debut he has been trending on all media platforms.

The free water and free power scheme made many snigger, saying it would drain the exchequer. Quite ironically this sense of alarm was more pronounced among India Inc, who have bled the PSU banks beyond redemption through loan defaults. Detractors called his party policies as povertarian socialism. But it did touch a chord among the Delhi's underclass, who either could not make it to the India Shining story or got crushed under its 'progress'.

Then came the street protests. The image of a Chief Minister wrapped in rajai sleeping on the Janpath footpath left the LCD TV owning class exasperated. He is supposed to govern and not protest thundered the shrill TV anchors. Even those who had praised his spectacular electoral coup at Delhi began shaking their heads in disapproval calling him anarchist. But again for those who sleep daily on Delhi streets it was nothing out of ordinary. Moreover later Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan too carried out copycat protests, but no one evoked the 'A' word.

The party's 49 days of power was nothing short of a political equivalent of IPL tamasha with the party's supporter base undergoing a wholesome churn. He endeared himself to much more lower echelons of the society, while some of his erstwhile upper middle class supporters recoiled in disgust.

During the last days in power he trained his guns on Ambani, something the political class of all hues and the media houses had always baulked at. Even his erstwhile guru Anna Hazare had kept the  crony capitalists out of his firing range.

However he seems to be a man in tearing hurry. After taking over power in Delhi, he should have tried to consolidate his base there and gradually spread his wings all over the country. It would have been ideal to aim big for 2018 elections than spread his organisation thin for pan India presence in 2014 polls.

The party is being perceived as driven by a single point agenda of fighting corruption. It needs to convey to people its stand on issues such as economy, foreign policy, judicial reforms and the like. In fact AAP think tank Yogendra Yadav had recently admitted that not much 'homework' has been done to formulate the party's economic policies. It is high time AAP did something on this front to remain relevant in the long run.

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