AAP's full-frontal assault on Modi is downright unpatriotic. Arvind Kejriwal is not just a bad politician, he is a bad Indian.
Twelve leading citizens of our nation are very "concerned". So much so that these worried gentlemen -- the likes of Gen SK Sinha, ex-director IB Ajit Doval, journalists MV Kamath and MJ Akbar and former DG Punjab Police PC Dogra et al -- have issued a joint "appeal" calling out unnamed new political parties for failing in their patriotic duty to bring down the UPA government. "We are shocked that some new-fangled political groups are targeting the BJP more than the Congress, which has been in office for 10 years now," declares the alarmist statement which goes on at length about the perils posed by such Johnny-come-latelys: Reuters The statement said the design of such parties was to promote cynicism in the public sphere, hamper the process of voter education, and create a space for themselves in the mass media. "Ironically-or perhaps tellingly-these calculations can only benefit the Congress as it fights what would appear to be an impossible election," they said. Noting that the entire nation was awaiting change, they said yearning for development, good governance besides social and economic justice has reached a crescendo. "In this situation, such attempts of new outfits and political platforms are hampering the cause of democracy, aspirations of the people and above all the national interest," the statement said, adding "rank opportunism and self-confessed anarchism" masquerading as a coherent political doctrine should not be allowed. Add in all the talk about "fissiparious tendencies" these 'outfits' encourage in places like Kashmir, the statement roughly translates as thus: AAP's full-frontal assault on Modi is downright unpatriotic. Arvind Kejriwal is not just a bad politician, he is a bad Indian. Now, it is self--evident that the 12 signatories are supporters of Narendra Modi. And that's perfectly fine. In a democracy, citizens are free to make a pitch for their candidate of choice -- indeed, as a measure of their political engagement, they ought to be lauded for doing so. What is bizarre and unseemly, however, is the attempt to paint AAP's political strategy of attacking Modi as a threat to the nation. AAP is doing what any party in its position would do, i.e. take on the front-runner. This is Elections 101. Candidates that lag behind gain traction by going negative on the guy up ahead. The aim is to draw blood, and slow him down. In US primary debates, for example, candidates will often unite and gang up against the front-runner. This isn't unpatriotic. It is just smart politics. Arvind Kejriwal has been just as eager to go after the Congress party when it suited his strategic objectives -- as in the Delhi elections where Sheila Dikshit was the woman to beat. But in the Lok Sabha elections, it is a waste of his party's time and energy to parrot anti-UPA narratives in the midst of a huge anti-Congress wave. This time around, the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress isn't a serious contender for the gaddi. BJP is the party to beat, and more so Narendra Modi. And while Kejriwal does not seriously expect to become Prime Minister, he (and his party) stands a decent shot of gaining electoral ground by defining himself against Modi. To demand that he abandon a sound and well-tested political strategy in the name of a misguided notion of "national interest" is a little hypocritical. And more so since, as The Telegraph reports, the "appeal" itself is a politically motivated attack aimed at defusing the threat AAP poses to Modi's ambitions: Asked if the signatories’ target was the Aam Aadmi Party, a BJP source said: “Without doubt.” “Look at the way Kejriwal is attacking only Modi and Gujarat,” the source added. “He has shifted his goalpost from corruption, scams and the Congress to Modi and, in the process, is functioning like the Congress’s surrogate.” Kejriwal, who recently criss-crossed Gujarat to try and puncture Modi’s development and governance claims, has alleged that the chief minister has mollycoddled big industry at the cost of farmers against “considerations”. A view is emerging in the BJP that Modi and the lead campaigners should directly attack Kejriwal and highlight his party’s “link” with the Congress instead of pretending that the new outfit isn’t important enough to merit attention. “The Aam Aadmi Party may not win too many seats but it can damage the BJP by splitting the anti-Congress vote if Kejriwal’s anti-Modi rhetoric works on the ground,” a source said. There is nothing wrong in taking aim at AAP or Kejriwal, or even trying to paint them as Congress surrogates. That's just politics as usual. But what is disingenuous is the pretense that his attacks on Modi are somehow unpatriotic. In every democratic nation, candidates endure a bruising electoral process which serves an important vetting mechanism. Its adversarial nature ensures an airing of all arguments for and against each of the candidates. And no man or woman who aspires to be our prime minister can or should expect to be treated as inviolate. That Modi supporters demand this as their candidate's right -- and in the name of "democratic aspirations" -- says more about them than its does of the target of their criticism.
Twelve leading citizens of our nation are very "concerned". So much so that these worried gentlemen -- the likes of Gen SK Sinha, ex-director IB Ajit Doval, journalists MV Kamath and MJ Akbar and former DG Punjab Police PC Dogra et al -- have issued a joint "appeal" calling out unnamed new political parties for failing in their patriotic duty to bring down the UPA government. "We are shocked that some new-fangled political groups are targeting the BJP more than the Congress, which has been in office for 10 years now," declares the alarmist statement which goes on at length about the perils posed by such Johnny-come-latelys: Reuters The statement said the design of such parties was to promote cynicism in the public sphere, hamper the process of voter education, and create a space for themselves in the mass media. "Ironically-or perhaps tellingly-these calculations can only benefit the Congress as it fights what would appear to be an impossible election," they said. Noting that the entire nation was awaiting change, they said yearning for development, good governance besides social and economic justice has reached a crescendo. "In this situation, such attempts of new outfits and political platforms are hampering the cause of democracy, aspirations of the people and above all the national interest," the statement said, adding "rank opportunism and self-confessed anarchism" masquerading as a coherent political doctrine should not be allowed. Add in all the talk about "fissiparious tendencies" these 'outfits' encourage in places like Kashmir, the statement roughly translates as thus: AAP's full-frontal assault on Modi is downright unpatriotic. Arvind Kejriwal is not just a bad politician, he is a bad Indian. Now, it is self--evident that the 12 signatories are supporters of Narendra Modi. And that's perfectly fine. In a democracy, citizens are free to make a pitch for their candidate of choice -- indeed, as a measure of their political engagement, they ought to be lauded for doing so. What is bizarre and unseemly, however, is the attempt to paint AAP's political strategy of attacking Modi as a threat to the nation. AAP is doing what any party in its position would do, i.e. take on the front-runner. This is Elections 101. Candidates that lag behind gain traction by going negative on the guy up ahead. The aim is to draw blood, and slow him down. In US primary debates, for example, candidates will often unite and gang up against the front-runner. This isn't unpatriotic. It is just smart politics. Arvind Kejriwal has been just as eager to go after the Congress party when it suited his strategic objectives -- as in the Delhi elections where Sheila Dikshit was the woman to beat. But in the Lok Sabha elections, it is a waste of his party's time and energy to parrot anti-UPA narratives in the midst of a huge anti-Congress wave. This time around, the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress isn't a serious contender for the gaddi. BJP is the party to beat, and more so Narendra Modi. And while Kejriwal does not seriously expect to become Prime Minister, he (and his party) stands a decent shot of gaining electoral ground by defining himself against Modi. To demand that he abandon a sound and well-tested political strategy in the name of a misguided notion of "national interest" is a little hypocritical. And more so since, as The Telegraph reports, the "appeal" itself is a politically motivated attack aimed at defusing the threat AAP poses to Modi's ambitions: Asked if the signatories’ target was the Aam Aadmi Party, a BJP source said: “Without doubt.” “Look at the way Kejriwal is attacking only Modi and Gujarat,” the source added. “He has shifted his goalpost from corruption, scams and the Congress to Modi and, in the process, is functioning like the Congress’s surrogate.” Kejriwal, who recently criss-crossed Gujarat to try and puncture Modi’s development and governance claims, has alleged that the chief minister has mollycoddled big industry at the cost of farmers against “considerations”. A view is emerging in the BJP that Modi and the lead campaigners should directly attack Kejriwal and highlight his party’s “link” with the Congress instead of pretending that the new outfit isn’t important enough to merit attention. “The Aam Aadmi Party may not win too many seats but it can damage the BJP by splitting the anti-Congress vote if Kejriwal’s anti-Modi rhetoric works on the ground,” a source said. There is nothing wrong in taking aim at AAP or Kejriwal, or even trying to paint them as Congress surrogates. That's just politics as usual. But what is disingenuous is the pretense that his attacks on Modi are somehow unpatriotic. In every democratic nation, candidates endure a bruising electoral process which serves an important vetting mechanism. Its adversarial nature ensures an airing of all arguments for and against each of the candidates. And no man or woman who aspires to be our prime minister can or should expect to be treated as inviolate. That Modi supporters demand this as their candidate's right -- and in the name of "democratic aspirations" -- says more about them than its does of the target of their criticism.
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