Sobering lessons from Delhi
There’s much India’s elections can teach Pakistan, not the least how the (much larger) exercise is routinely managed without hiccups. The recent Dehli vote, and AAP’s landmark victory, is particularly instructive. There are not many parallels, especially in the Third World, of the common folk knitting together a party that upsets the BJP juggernaut in the capital, especially considering the Lok Sabha tail-wind. The Congress and BJP quickly, and rightly, accepted the verdict, and as far as the older parties are concerned, the focus will now be on ‘containing’ AAP before it snowballs, instead of disputing the election.
Delhi was clearly never the reality-check point in Modi’s plans. He had ordered large numbers of party workers for campaigning, and himself appeared publicly no less than four times. And he brought the right credentials; moving fast on economic reforms and scoring particularly well in international diplomacy. But Delhi’s voters – a large majority of them, at least – did not seem to warm up to the prime minister like his friends in international politics. Some have been put off by the extremist Hindutva agenda of a big bulk of the party; a sentiment seemingly echoed by Modi as well.
Others are not too happy with his liberalisation model. Corporate economics looks good from a distance, and adds the odd percentage point to the GDP figure, but its benefits have never been known to ‘trickle down’ to the grassroots. And the lower sections, particularly, that see hope in AAP, are obviously concerned about their lot. India is the world’s largest democracy, which is fine, but it also hosts the world’s largest slums, so the voice of the lesser-privileged matter, especially now, when there is political diversity. Sections of the Indian press have rightly called this election ‘politics of practical results’. People have exercised their right through the most preferred mechanism, and have been rewarded for it. It’s now for AAP to deliver. Unfortunately such developments remain a distant dream for Pakistan, where politics remains the domain of the rich, famous, powerful and landed.