Can he also reform the private sector?

He sang at his oath-taking ceremony. And, with a song, Arvind Kejriwal, the 45-year-old chief minister of Delhi, changed the nature of politics in India forever. Notwithstanding the powerful symbolism, of a CM singing a popular Hindi film song in order to forge an instant bond with the teeming audience at Ramlila Maidan, Kejriwal’s assurances did not ring hollow despite their tall order. Not only has a new idiom been born, of a networked, connected form of politics and a leadership from below, but also, for the first time, the ordinary voter-citizen is feeling empowered like never before. A potent mix of digital ammunition and a civil awareness has transformed the urban nodes of the country, and not just those in the national capital, which, in the same vein as Right to Information Act, has transformed the political base, posing a massive challenge to the all-pervasive culture of corruption. For the first time, the lexicon of politics involves and includes the views of the common man, with the overt and covert differences between the elite and the rest under direct attack. Kejriwal’s first day in office that resulted in suspensions of a number of errant bureaucrats is also an indication that probably time has come for transparency to become routine and ordinary, at least in the public sector and bureaucracy. Moreover, Kejriwal’s refusal of VIP security for himself, or red beacons for his MLAs, or even living in a lavish government bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi’s posh locality, all bespeak a certain baggage-free, light and flexible approach to governance, which is more geared towards problem-solving and troubleshooting than it is about enjoying the perks of the job, executing the role rather than assuming the role.  

 

However, the glimpses of ‘Indian Spring’, as it were, would not  be complete without AAP engaging with the private sector and ushering in a culture of transparency and accountability in these shadowy realms of corporate operations. Naturally, obstructionist leftism is not what is expected of Team Kejriwal and his band of political novices, but a governance more radical than what the blindsided CPI(M) and other parties in the Left Front have offered so far. In fact, it remains to be seen how AAP turns around big corporations such as Reliance-owned BSES, Tata Power and others who distribute electricity to the various areas of the national capital, without completely antagonising the business sector. Moreover, the problem that will be faced by AAP would be to ensure that the policies match the myriad needs and aspirations of its multi-faceted vote-bank, which includes the rich, the poor and the middle classes. Along with reduced power and water tariffs, AAP had also eyed the relentless inflation in its election manifesto, and had opposed FDI in multi-brand retail sector, but for that stance to actually work, AAP needs to eliminate, or at least severely bring down, the exploitation of farmers and other producers as well as buyers from the exploitation carried out by middlemen. Another crucial point is controlling bank fraud and bad loan exemptions via corporate loan restructuring availed by a number of private sector bigwigs to avoid repaying loans taken from the public sector banks. Naturally, for India Inc which has only experienced corrupt crony capitalism and adopted a cut-throat approach to escape the big sharks’ and their tendency to eliminate healthy competition, AAP could be the new force that they have to reckon with.