They
began with high promises, dubbed impossible or near-impossible to achieve, by
their political adversaries, by many experts.
Therefore,
they began with proportionately placed sky-high levels of expectations, dubbed,
again, impossible to fulfill by many.
So, a
clear and tough, almost impossible sounding, job was already cut out.
Aam
Aadmi Party government led by Arvind Kejriwal did act on the two major promises
within a week and is in process of acting on the third one – on power and water
tariff and on cracking down on VIP culture (at least it looks so) – the most
potent and symbolically the most important for Kejriwal and AAP to prove their
mettle behind their claims of cleaning the politics and being an ‘all out’ ‘aam
aadmi’ party.
But
have they really initiated to deliver the way they should have?
They
haven’t.
Being
dubbed as masterstrokes, the steps taken by Arvind Kejriwal and AAP government
in Delhi
What
the AAP government has done in the name of power and water tariff is more on
the line of Congress politics manipulating different sub-sets of votebanks,
doling out sops to some at the cost of some others, to appeal to the voters
with populist measures.
What
they have done has established elements of the votebank politics to reflect on.
(And that is not acceptable.)
Reducing
power tariff for two power slabs while not touching the third one, the highest
one, is silly. The power bill pinches most in summers and is a problem for the
huge middle class living in Delhi Delhi
Similar
is the story of the water tariff. Most of the middle class households are going
to pay 10% higher for the bills as they would easily surpass the 20 kilolitres
of the monthly free limit. Also, many of the intended beneficiaries would not
be able to avail it, those living in slums and in irregular colonies with no
regular metered water connections.
And
these are not reduced tariffs. The AAP government is subsidizing them. Okay to
restructure and so to bring down tariffs, they need time and so subsidy is okay
in the short run.
But,
are they going to restructure the power and water tariffs? Are they going to
make the reduced power and water bills subsidy free so that it doesn’t come at
the cost of hampering the development work?
And
above all, segregating the voters in different classes like Congress does. Like
Congress doles out a Food Security Bill diverting a huge share of public
exchequer’s fund even if the economy is in mess, even if it comes at a prices
of making food grains more costly for the middle class.
And not
just the population living below the poverty line, the huge and burgeoning
middle class, that is rapidly becoming a pan-India phenomenon, they all are
‘aam aadmi’ Mr. Kejriwal. They, too, voted for you.
You and
your party need to learn this soon.
Now
that you have begun to bring down power and water tariff, make them structured
and class-free. That is the only way to clear the valid doubts being raised.
And remember,
you don’t have time. Also, please stop faltering on ‘cracking down’ on the VIP
culture promise. Not taking government bungalows, then accepting two palatial
flats, then saying no on public outrage, SUVs for your ministers, trouble for
common public on your Delhi Metro sojourns – these are putting you in bad
light.
Yes,
you still have the benefit of doubt as you and your party need some more time
to draw clarity on the complex matters of state finances and governance and how
to make them independent of the layers of the votebank politics.
But
remember, everything is under intense scrutiny and if AAP is different, as
claimed, it needs to show us soon.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
