Dear Arvind Kejriwal,
I am your admirer. Partly because you are an IITian like me, partly because of the RTI thing you got done, but largely because you’ve displayed courage to do things on ground to change India that I have secretly aspired to, and failed, for years.
Don’t let your beautiful AAP experiment fail so soon, as is becoming faintly evident with each passing day. Some unsought advice.
1. Don’t expand too fast : Reckless physical expansion without systems backup has proven to be a recipe for disaster for organisations always. Avoid it. There’s no hurry buddy. Select 4-5 states for 2014 LS elections, and don’t go beyond. Then work on solid issues, get results, and jump in fray for 2019.
2. Don’t let dissenters stay : Your party is too young to have dissenters! And people like Capt.Gopinath (sorry for naming) whose contribution to AAP so far is zilch have no right to say anything. So avoid such people.
3. Be careful of Kashmir and Naxalism : Till Nov 2013, you and team were activists, and thus enjoyed freedom not possible for elected reps. But now, don’t make the mistake of talking bullshit on Kashmir and Naxalism. Referendums are a NO-NO. India’s sovereignty and undisputed integrity is beyond debate. This one mistake will undo AAP forever.
4. Ops, Ops, Ops : Sir, operational management and planning is crucial. How could you imagine that a roadside durbaar will ever work in a nation of the proverbial 125 crores? You’ll be run over! Such avoidable public scenes of failure should be – avoided!
5. Media is a great double-edged sword : Remember sir, those who live by it, should be ready to die by it. So when the media turns on you, don’t blame them. It’s the nature of things. Just as you relish others’ getting diced-and-sliced, so will others get their turn too.
6. Your Wagon R is cool, but.. : Sir, when you enter your Wagon R, it is perhaps the best visual statement of modesty a CM can make. And then you undo it with your megalomaniacal “The next elections is all about AAP and BJP. Congress is nowhere”. Such sweeping generalisations make your admirers wonder if what your critics say about the supposed double-faced nature of AAP is true.
God give you strength. I have no particular desire that you win and become the PM. But I am enjoying every moment of watching the country’s political establishment finally realising what the founder fathers wanted this nation’s political system to be like – transparent, simple, responsible and really really democratic.