
A demagogue has been defined as a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational arguments. Now that’s what most of the political leaders in India are good at doing. Let’s discuss the two elements in the definition – desires and prejudices.
Leaders play in different degrees on these two elements as per the condition and the character of the political turf. However, the assembly polls in Delhi have for the past decade seen the entry of another element – greed. Political leaders have taken to in a big way playing on the greed of the people. In the past two elections, we saw people voting in large number first for free power and then free water.
This time around there are unique freebies being ferreted out. However, before we discuss these freebies lest do examine the qualities of the leader who is setting the tone of the game – Arvind Kejriwal. Nobody in the past has understood the greedy nature of the electors of Delhi as has Arvind Kejriwal.
The DNA of greed is not inbuilt just into the residents of the slum or unauthorised colonies but exist more prominently in the plotted and upmarket colonies. Around the turn of the century when a survey was done for the transmission and distribution losses of electricity, these plotted colonies were found to be scoring higher than the less prosperous colonies.
This has not changed since then. During the last polls among the charges of the various election malpractices levelled against AAP leaders was one about then Health Minister Satyender Jain distributing air-conditioners and laptops in the libraries of the Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) from the MLA local area development fund.
Now none of these colonies are none of have any library where these air conditioners could have been deployed or laptops used. Naturally the beneficiaries were the office bearers of the RWAs. The case is pending before the High Court, justice having been delayed on the account of Jain cooling his heels behind bars in another case for a long time and his lawyers seeking adjournment on that count.
Now this time around Kejriwal has announced that the government would pay the RWAs for the reimbursement of the expenditure made on the deployment of the security guards. He preceded the announcement with a political twist of Delhi having turned into the crime capital with increasing crime rate.
Accusing BJP and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of failing to control crime in the Capital, he said, “Over the past several days, people from across Delhi have been coming to meet me. I, too, have been travelling across Delhi, talking to people. The BJP-led Centre, especially under Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has turned Delhi into the crime capital of the country.”
This he very intelligently followed with the dole, saying “If two crore people of Delhi are hurt, I am hurt. These two crore people are my family, and they are suffering due to a lack of adequate security measures. If someone in Delhi suffers, Kejriwal feels the pain. I have been assuring people across the city that if the AAP forms the government, all RWAs will be provided with appropriate funds from the government to appoint security guards in their areas for the safety of the people.”
The RWA office-bearers may or may not have been titillated by this offer to handle some cash depending on their personal probity index. The RWAs and similar citizen groups should rather counter the offer saying that the government should conserve these funds to provide clean water from the taps and build all-weather motor able roads in the national Capital.
But then Kejriwal knows the psyche of the voters better. The Aam Aadmi Party hasin the past three elections harvested a good electoral crop investing on the greed of the voters. This time they have gone as far to promise free medicare even those possessing Mercedes.
Sidharth Mishra
Author and president, Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice