I may not agree with populism of AAP but I have to admit AAP has started a new inspiring movement for those who otherwise thought to have distanced politics thanks to lack of purity in the game. Change they want to bring in is definitely positive but I am not sure their action is in sync with their earnest desire for change.
Frankly I have not seen anything new in AAP that I have not seen in CPM during 1970-77 phase. Communist leaders of 70's were more aam aadmi than Kejriwal & Co. They led even simpler life than today's aam aadmi. But it all changed once they came to power. Party, the people, the mission-all changed since 1977 and eventually they become another party in Indian politics. They tried every trick that AAP tried-local democracy to people, local democracy to party and endless populist agenda from state budget.
Then what happened to them? Did people feel empowered?
Actually they did in WB for a brief. When they came to power in 1977, there were hopes that this will be a common people's Government. And in many sense-it was. Most of the ministers of CPM were mostly school teachers. Panchayet election gave power to local villagers. A lot of commoners came to power only to become the ruling class of the next!
But eventually the party eroded in history as proverbial power poisons everything in the party. The same leaders who used to go to school in Bi-Cycle started riding Maruti in a matter of two decades. Changes were slow compared to other part of India but power took its toll on CPM very slowly but surely. Rank and file of the party become arrogant, obdurate and drunk with power. With power came the illusion of invincibility and they started justifying every wrong thing they did.
In more academic analysis, communist movement's decline has to do with issues of production. Indeed the most basics of Marxism is about survival and selection of a society with more productive force. CPM didn't encourage entrepreneurship. They made them class-enemy as dictated by their ideology. And we all know the result. In 1977, WB was the state with 3rd largest industrial production ( next to Gujrat and Maharastra) which become one of the worst productive state only to be compared with Bihar! Populism, pro-people can not last long if people do not get jobs. Villages after villages of WB are empty of their adult male members because they work as laborer in the other states. The state has simply no opportunity and it was only a matter of time myth of pro-people, populist CPM was waiting to be busted.
Nevertheless they did achieve power to people to some extent but at the end, that didn't mean much in long run because people were leaving the state due to lack of opportunity. If opportunities, jobs do not exist what is the value of political empowerment ? Whom you are going to empower, if the very people are forced to leave the state!
However, there is only one sharp difference between AAP and CPM movement. AAP is led by Arvind Kejriwal who is intelligent and can adapt to new policies. CPM leadership was inept and mired in obsolete, inapplicable theories of communism. AK is more pragmatic and that can be a silver line for AAP movement.
Frankly I have not seen anything new in AAP that I have not seen in CPM during 1970-77 phase. Communist leaders of 70's were more aam aadmi than Kejriwal & Co. They led even simpler life than today's aam aadmi. But it all changed once they came to power. Party, the people, the mission-all changed since 1977 and eventually they become another party in Indian politics. They tried every trick that AAP tried-local democracy to people, local democracy to party and endless populist agenda from state budget.
Then what happened to them? Did people feel empowered?
Actually they did in WB for a brief. When they came to power in 1977, there were hopes that this will be a common people's Government. And in many sense-it was. Most of the ministers of CPM were mostly school teachers. Panchayet election gave power to local villagers. A lot of commoners came to power only to become the ruling class of the next!
But eventually the party eroded in history as proverbial power poisons everything in the party. The same leaders who used to go to school in Bi-Cycle started riding Maruti in a matter of two decades. Changes were slow compared to other part of India but power took its toll on CPM very slowly but surely. Rank and file of the party become arrogant, obdurate and drunk with power. With power came the illusion of invincibility and they started justifying every wrong thing they did.
In more academic analysis, communist movement's decline has to do with issues of production. Indeed the most basics of Marxism is about survival and selection of a society with more productive force. CPM didn't encourage entrepreneurship. They made them class-enemy as dictated by their ideology. And we all know the result. In 1977, WB was the state with 3rd largest industrial production ( next to Gujrat and Maharastra) which become one of the worst productive state only to be compared with Bihar! Populism, pro-people can not last long if people do not get jobs. Villages after villages of WB are empty of their adult male members because they work as laborer in the other states. The state has simply no opportunity and it was only a matter of time myth of pro-people, populist CPM was waiting to be busted.
Nevertheless they did achieve power to people to some extent but at the end, that didn't mean much in long run because people were leaving the state due to lack of opportunity. If opportunities, jobs do not exist what is the value of political empowerment ? Whom you are going to empower, if the very people are forced to leave the state!
However, there is only one sharp difference between AAP and CPM movement. AAP is led by Arvind Kejriwal who is intelligent and can adapt to new policies. CPM leadership was inept and mired in obsolete, inapplicable theories of communism. AK is more pragmatic and that can be a silver line for AAP movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment