The Three Mistakes of Arvind Kejriwal

 So, as you have guessed, this piece is on Arvind Kejriwal. Before going through the rest, please think on your own for once (so that you can’t blame me for making you biased).

Who is Arvind Kejriwal, in your eyes?  An IIT Kharagpur graduate who dares to be different? An ex-IRS officer, who didn’t care about his lucrative job? A genuine crusader against corruption who is to be supported blindly given the fact that India is regularly ranked as one of the world’s most corrupt countries? A mere nitpicker who would be suited better as a journo? A super-ambitious politician? Or an over-hyped guy who is misled by Indian media?  Or simply a person who is best-fitted under the tag “Mr. Super-clean”?

 Well, I know this question is difficult to answer in one-line. His character has so many shades that it’s next to impossible to depict him in a single sentence. So, we’ll not try to do that. We are going to do an in-depth analysis on him.

First of all, though it may seem from the title of the post, it’s not the fact that I am dead against of IAC or AAP and going to slam Arvind in the rest of my post (if you are an Arvind-maniac, relax dear). I have to agree that Arvind has the courage to be different and he has already done some significant ground-work. As a social-activist, he indeed has appreciable achievement under his belt. Let’s look into his life(as a social worker) briefly:

 Parivartan: 

Arvind started his journey as an activist with this small organization. But in course of time, it had made a prominent foot-print in society (He was later awarded ‘Ramon Magsaysay Award’ for this). It was reported[1] that (Please note, I have not checked the claims personally):

He has started Parivartan, but initially he left the limelight to Kailash Goduka and Colonel Pandey. This organization was basically the need of that hour and became popular instantly. They received almost 400 complaints against income tax department just after inauguration. Despite being harassed by the chief commissioner several times, they started actively helping common people who has to bribe Income Tax officers to do almost anything. Wisely using their two weapons - satyagraha and legal suit (once they filed Public Interest Litigation directing the department to implement a five-point transparency plan) - they kept a constant  pressure on IT department. As a result, once the Department had to file an affidavit in the Delhi High Court saying that they had issued orders for implementation of all the suggestions made by Parivartan. And more importantly, N Vittal, the then CVC, told the chief commissioner that Parivartan’s suggestions were genuine and that the antipathy the chief commissioner may feel for them should not get in the way of the income tax department’s implementing sensible procedures. And it had produced results and forced IT dept. to take action. Finally almost 700 people had benefited from the group’s "Don’t pay bribes!" campaign at the tax department (till 2006). We have to note that this is a huge achievement for a newly-formed organization! And yes, team Parivartan had acquired  it! 

 Another area of Delhi that was 'revolutionized' by Parivartan was electricity department. That time Kejriwal had led from the front. And that movement was a massive success. The number of cases filed with the Electricity Court dropped to three or four cases a month from forty to fifty. Parivartan documented some twenty-four categories of problems, including deliberate mistakes in bills that would need a bribe to rectify, delays in fixing faulty electrical meters, and long waits for new electrical connections. Those who were helped would gratefully ask what they could do. The volunteers told them to stay for an hour and distribute Parivartan pamphlets. “That’s why you will find, on any day, several people standing there and telling others, ‘Don’t pay bribes inside’. The fixers were unhappy and some threatened the volunteers, but nothing came out of it. Up to that time (2006), Parivartan has settled 2,500 grievances with the electricity department on behalf of individuals. Again, this is Arvind who has done it! Kudos to  him! 

On the later stages, Parivartan increased its area of operation and was effectively working in sectors like food, water supply (Arvind actively protested against privatization), public distribution system, road development etc. Interestingly the financially weak portion of the society became their 'priority customer'! A silent (progressive) change worth noticing!

By that time (2001), Right to Information act was passed in Delhi. Parivartan started experimenting with it in the state and got instant success. The details of RTI movement are discussed below under separate heading.

RTI Movement: 

Barring the Janlokpal movement, or most recent AAP, Arvind was best known for his RTI movement. The RTI act, passed by Delhi Legislative Assembly is something very unique in nature. It gives:

• i) the right to ask for any information from Delhi government departments, 
• ii) the right to inspect any government document, 
• iii)the right to ask for a photocopy of any government document,
• iv)the right to ask for an inspection of any government work, 
• v)the right to ask for a sample of materials to be used for any government work.

In this time, Arvind had read an article about Aruna Roy, who was then examining the application of RTI by organizing public audits of government projects in the poor villages in Rajasthan. He tried to replicate the model in Delhi. Again, he got  instant success. In three months, he helped nearly two hundred people file Right to Information applications with the Electricity Department itself. He started organizing street meetings and made people conscious about the difference between the figures shown in the Govt. report and actual money invested in a project. He increased the people consciousness by many times during this part.
Later he had started collaborating with eminent people like Justice P. B. Sawant (former justice of the Supreme Court of India), Aruna Roy, Prabhash Joshi (a senior journalist), Vinod Mehta (editor of OUTLOOK), Bharat Dogra (a senior journalist), and Arundhati Roy. They had created a silent social movement nationwide. As a result, RTI has been passed finally at parliament in 2005. For this contribution, hewas awarded Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award by IITK this time. He was continuing his movement with RTI. He co-founded the Public Cause Research Foundation, which espoused transparent and accountable governance, in 2006 along with two other people—his long-time aide and former television journalist Manish Sisodia and television producer Sekhri.  In 2010, He had also announced an award for RTI activists to motivate them. These are all, no doubt bold, brave and wise steps.
We have to salute him again. You have to agree that up to this point he is second to only Mr. Perfect. He was proving his passion, eligibility and leadership quality as a social worker constantly (In an interview he said his Ramon Magsaysay Award does not belongs to him only, it is the property of all RTI activists - Note again,He is speaking like a true leader). And He was simply growing till then. 

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Also Read: Keep an Eye On Arvind Kejriwal
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Janlokpal Movement Phase 1: 

Yes, I am talking about the first phase (7th-9th April, 2012) I am not going in detail. Because nation knows how he had worked as the lieutenant of Anna Hazare, how efficiently he worked with the other members of team Anna, mobilized the crowd (almost 6 crore people supported them), kept a superb relation with Indian media houses (many of those are criticized several times for being pro-congress – still they had supported the movement to a great extent). After three days, govt finally agreed to setup a drafting committee with IAC members to consider their suggestion in lokpal bill. It was not a cakewalk. And we have to praise Arvind along with Anna for it!

Janlokpal Movement Phase 2: 

 This is the movement for which Anna, Arvind or Kiran Bedi become the issue of even normal household discussion. The stubborn nature of Delhi police to allow Anna to fast, arrest of Anna, His release from Tihar Jail, buckling of Delhi police under public anger, Anna's fast for 288 hours (16 August-2011 to 28 August-2011) are now basically some milestone in the history of post-modern India. I am not going in detail again (so many data  are available online on this phase, just a Google search would show you), but just mentioning some statistics to show how modern India supported the movement - 

• According to the survey conducted by STAR News and Nielsen, 87% of the 8900 respondents of the survey supported the Jan Lokpal Bill.  

•  IAC conducted a survey on the draft Lokpal Bill presented by the Indian Government in Parliament. It showed that 85% of the participants were opposed to the government's bill.   

•  Over a million people joined the Times of India online anti-graft campaign, making it one of the biggest ever voting exercises in the virtual world.  

•  As The Economic Times reports, on 15th August, Anna had over 500,000 mentions through status updates and comments across Facebook and Twitter. On 17th, the number had shot up to 9 million.On YouTube, over 40,000 people watched the video shot by Kiran Bedi inside Tihar Jail in which Anna has addressed his supporters. 542 fan pages created on Facebook by Anna's name.

  You can argue here that those stats are the product of the movement led by  Anna, not by Arvind. And personalities like Aruna Roy or Arundhuti Roy started bashing IAC from this time ([2] [3]),but again you have to remember that their opposition could not cut the the link between IAC and 'aam admi'. Rather people usually labelled them as mere fault-finder egoist people. 

But, you need to keep in mind that it is Arvind who had tackled media, motivated the crowd along with Anna and did all other needful. We have no other choice than giving him credit.

Janlokpal Movement Phase 3:

Now I want to talk about the December movement. This is the time when Kejriwal did his first mistake. This is no secret today that December movement   of IAC at Mumbai was a major flop show. On MMRDA ground on Mumbai, the estimate of people varied between 4,000 to 10,000, which was in sharp contrast to 30,000-40,000 that poured in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan in August.

 Experts has given various reasons of that failure - ranging from a Test series was going at that time to a Lokpal bill was under the purview of parliament at that time. Other note-worthy points include - the division within team Anna, faulty handling of social media, etc.  

More interestingly, Some even direct their finger to him. Question has bubbled on his childish phobia to Baba Ramdev also - Was it really required to go again Baba?  Some pointed out that Kejriwal could not deal with media with perfection this time. They questioned whether choice of Mumbai was wise, leaving Delhi (which is famous for activism, by university students and other people). Even Anna questioned on the IAC management in a recent interview with Indian Express:

 I even told them that it was too soon to go on a fast and start an agitation, but they had made all preparations, so I was forced to go. My health worsened after that.

Whatever may be the reason, it was a massive failure and it is also clear that Arvind have to take the major responsibility. But if the case stops here, Arvind may be forgiven. But he didn't stop. He wrote some trash article ventilating his immense confusion that he has no idea what he should do next. Then finally over-hyped Arvind made a split with Anna, did the massacre, the second mistake, and open a political party.

Starting of the Political Party: 

I really don't know on which ground he took this decision, but he took it. He thought probably running a movement and a party/Govt. is similar in nature. Great mistake by Arvind Kejriwal. Let's have a look in his vision document (my views on those are given in the bracket):

• Lokpal Bill will be brought in within 10 days of the party being voted to power (as if and they will get ~300 seats and there would not be any pressure from coalition allies).   

•  People will decide the price of essential commodities(The most funny and absurd one. Arvind, it is the balance between demand and supply which determines price. Market cannot be controlled like that. If you start doing that farmers, people associated with production industry and businessmen all would get ruined. Please learn ABC of economics, or at least apply your common sense). 

•  Any person can lodge a complaint against any leader with the Lokpal (I praise his passion. But it is very easy to utter this and very difficult to assume what will happen after a person lodge a complaint against anyone.  The problems associated with corruption cannot be solved overnight, John Elliot already discussed this in detail, on The Independent Has he forgotten his experience with Parivartan?). 

•  No beacons on cars of any MPs or MLAs (Oh man, I have nothing to say. Red-light is not to show one's importance (though so many thinks like that), it's for speedy journey. So that he can devote his time more in his work for the country. Please think twice). 

•  All expenditure and fund details to be posted on the party's website(even if people who would donate in party fund unwilling to disclose his details? What Arvind thinks? People don't need privacy? Or everyone likes limelight like him).

•  All colonial laws on land acquisition to be abolished (No comment right now. Time will tell). 

•  Right to Reject and Right to Recall (Right to reject is already there. No point of mentioning it again. And about Right-to-recall - Has Arvind any idea how much money is spent to conduct an election? Who will bear this money? His 'aam admi'?).  

• A maximum of 2 years to act on any case of corruption (Devastating idea. I know pretty well that the slow speed of judiciary system is a major problem in India. But it ensures better judgement, it ensures the security of innocent people. If you destroy this basic quality of Indian Judiciary to speed up the system...I am damn afraid of the consequences). 

• Everyone will be provided with good education and good healthcare services (Why not? Money will begin to grow on mango tree, when AAP would get the power. Or even that is not the case, Arvind is there to make up the deficit. Uhh...Disgusting). 

• Farmers will be given good price for their produce(People will decide the price, still farmers will get good price. I doubt how many rupees Arvind has in his pocket.). 

• People will have the right to participate in the formulation of laws and government's policies (Disaster is waiting. I repeat, disaster is waiting, if this is implemented. I am not telling that people of India are bunch of fools. But in a country, if ALL people have enough eligibility to make policy to run a run a nation, then the name of the country is probably heaven. No or very poor education, immaturity, less intelligence (yes I am using politically incorrect word), plus huge population - Arvind, India is probably worst place in the world to apply the concept of direct democracy ). 

• No government money will be used in any area without the will of the people (Again an attempt to implement the concept of gram sabha anddirect democracy,  hole in the wall of the idea is self-explanatory).

Look at the points. A bunch of childish ideas. A deadly combo of left-liberalism and direct democracy. When someone read this, there are enough probability that he would lose his faith on Arvind. He should do some homework before launching the party. 

PS: The name of the party is equally irritating. If we are 'Aam-admi', who is the special admi of India? Arvind? Or Prasant Bhushan? Why are you using the congressi jargon? 

One After Another Expose: 

 If a guy has a manifesto like this, he has no other option than doing something populist steps to make an impact on indian political system. Arvind is no exception. He started attacking people - politician, their relatives, industrialists and all who don't support his movement.

 Robertgate: It is Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, whom he first attacked. He really did some meticulous study and revealed some brain storming data. 

 Kejriwal alleged of a nexus between realty firm DLF and Robert Vadra (son in law of Sonia Gandhi). He accused Vadra of taking an interest-free loan of Rs. 65 crores and heavy bargains on land from DLF Limited in exchange for political favors. He said the Haryana government gave 350 acres of land meant for a hospital to SEZ, of which Robert Vadra had 50% of shares in the SEZ project.[4] Look, Kejriwal is gaining our confidence again! He has directly questioned the dynasty. He dares to point at the first family of India. He dares to go for a head-on collision with kleptocracy. And again he earns respect from us (despite his crap vision on socio-economic system). 

The story had a sharp impact. Haryana govt. has to initiate a probe. Based on the preliminary details uncovered by that inquiry, Mr. Ashok Khemka cancelled the mutation of the 3.531- acre plot that Mr. Vadra’s company, M/s Sky Light Hospitality, had sold to DLF on September 18, 2012. He did so on the grounds that the mutation violated the States Consolidation Act and was done not by a revenue officer but by the Assistant Consolidation Officer of Gurgaon who was not authorised to do so. (EA4/2012/4620-4621 dated 15 October, 2012). AND...Khemka was transferred (read removed) within hours he had initiated the probe[5]. This story expresses the sad picture of Indian democracy. And Kejriwal arises to a level. He became the hero of middle-class Indians. And he deserved it!

 Salman Khurshid: Salman khurshid became his second target. He questions on   the financial irregularities  of Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust with the grants given by Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment  for the welfare of physically impaired people. and alleged Mr. and Mrs. Khurshid (71 lakh Ruppes Scam, was first reported by India Today). This news also created a stir in the Indian politics. Khurshid allegedly warned Kejriwal like a petty criminal - "Kejriwal can enter Farrukhabad, how will he return?" Even BBC had reported the story with importance. Though Khurshid denied it later. Arvind got the greatest weapon - public sympathy. 

 BUT... after that? He started doing mistake! Again, by choosing wrong targets to allege!

Loss of Credibility:  

 This phase may be the most crucial for the political career of Kejriwal. He stared attacking BJP prez Nitin Gadkari, Reliance, HSBC and finally Narendra Modi. But he can't give solid proof against anything. In my own view, this is the time when he fails again to understand the pulse of "aam admi". To satisfy media houses and to prove his secular nature he took easiest way - attacking BJP. Well, even if we consider him successful in that, we have to agree at the same time that he is losing the unconditional support given by common Indians, who badly want a non-corrupt India. 

 Take the example of Gadkari case. Based on the findings of his colleague Anjali Damania he took on Gadkari on irrigation scam, all of which refuted well by BJP. BJP even published a letter (available on Scribd) which indicates that Damania had vested interest -

• She wrote a letter written to the Maharashtra irrigation department, in June, 2011. She says that the location of a proposed dam coming up in Kondhane-Karjat be shifted by about 500 to 700 metres so that 30 acres of her property would not get submerged. 

• In her letter, Damania says that there is no private land but Adivasi land beyond 700 metres and she mentions that the Adivasis can be adequately compensated. 

Arvind had to initiate an internal probe against him. Result of the entire scenario put him back-foot, literally. Somehow he starts losing his larger-than-life image from this time. 

 Later when he started exposing RIL, Jet Airways, or even congress MP Annu Tandon that stops appearing in first pages of newspaper (I personally observed this with TOI Kolkata edition). If you go through the denial statement made by respective persons or organizations, even if are die hard Arvind supporter, you would start believing that. "Well...may be Arvind is exaggerating [6][7][8][9]. 

Finally, attacking Narendra Modi he almost lost the support from the youth of India. As the Times of India reported:

• In their sixth "expose'', Kejriwal and Bhushan said Modi had favoured Gujarat-based business house Adani Group on power purchase and land allotment besides giving gas fields worth Rs 20,000 crore to private companies -- Jubilant Energy and Geo Global -- for "free", adding that their disclosures were evidence that the rivalry between Congress and BJP was a pretense and that the two parties were actually "business partners'' in private.   

• They also alleged that Modi "gifted'' away 20% stake of $20 billion worth of gas blocks acquired by state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) in the KG basin to Geo Global and Jubilant Enpro causing an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore to the public exchequer. 

• Questioning the process of shortlisting the two companies, Kejriwal said Geo Global, owned by Jean Paul Roy, was incorporated just six days before the agreement with GSPC and was expected to provide technical assistance. Not only did Geo Global admit to Securities and Exchange Commission in the US that it did not have the requisite expertise but the agreement gave the company gas fields free of cost.

• A similar agreement by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance with British Petroleum ended in the latter paying Reliance an amount of $7.3 billion (Rs 35,000 crore) to acquire 30% stake and to provide technical assistance.

The  most interesting part is that they cannot produce any solid evidence Modi. Gujrat govt. defended it very well. Excerpt from the press conference - 

• The charge that the state government favoured Adani group while purchasing power is not true. Power was purchased from the Adani Group after inviting bids and Adani was the lowest bidder. 
• The government has not given any farm land to Adanis. The land which was given in Kutch was wasteland. The charge that the land was given at Re 1 is false as it was given on a lease for 30 years on BOT basis and every year the state government gets rent on it.
• GSPC (Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation) had informed the Director General, Hydrocarbons in 2010 that the deal with GeoGlobal was cancelled and they did not have 10 per cent participating interest anymore in the oil exploration of the Krishna Godavari Basin Deendayal Block.

Clearly, Arvind & Co. has lost it's face. Their credibility has gone now under constant scanner! In the mean time they had faced allegations against themselves! Digvijaya Singh wrote a letter containing 27 questions. Please don't ignore it only because of the fact that it was written by Diggy. Some questions really force you to think twice -

• a) Why there are no details of individual donors and corporate donors on any website of your NGOs. Is it a fact that the NGO, Kabir, with whom you are closely associated, received $172,000 and $197,000 from Ford Foundation in 2005 and 2009 respectively?
• b)Was this foreign money used to organise seminars, advocacy, discussions, programmes, social media campaigns and publicity material related to the issue of corruption?
• c)What is the logistical and other support your anti-corruption movement received from Avaaz?
• d)How you managed to get permission to go on study leave with full pay and subsequently form an NGO despite central government rules not permitting it?

Again, Y P Singh, a former IPS and RTI activist, questioned Arvind and Co. on their selective exposure. He alleged that they are not taking the name of Sharad Pawar who was involved in bigger scam in Maharashtra. 

What is clear the entire flow of events, Arvind is losing it's edge. Entering active politics and becoming successful in it is not a cakewalk - it is not possible via some 'exposure' - as soon as AAP would understand this, that would be better. 'Prime Time' is not the only phrase which works in the politics. I do have doubt whether they can secure even five seats in the LS election. The battle is not easy, Arvind. And you are making mistakes, one after another. Being successful is improbable for you, if it is not impossible. You can take my word. 

Once, Simon Denyer has written in The Washington Post - 

As a social activist, Kejriwal used to smile a lot. These days, he almost never does. 

His anger never wavers. 

Everyone is observing - you are in pressure after joining politics. You have done your greatest mistake there, you should be happy as an activist only, Arvind. You will understand it.