Hi,
Before we move ahead, pl do read:
https://chantsofchaitanya.com/2013/11/17/brazen-chest-thumping-by-a-street-gang-called-team-anna/ written by me originally on 27 August 2011
AND
the follow up to that – https://chantsofchaitanya.com/2013/11/17/chest-thumping-roaring-just-a-storm-in-a-teacup/ written on 26 June 2012
So, 60 months after my first post, let’s see where we are with the original members of ‘gang Anna’ – Kejriwal, Bhushan, Yadav, Bedi, Ramdev :
- Anna, having managed to shed his radioactive colleagues, has returned to Ralegan Siddhi and keeps popping up now & then to threaten the government with agitations & fasts, to declare his non-alignment with Kejriwal and to try to regain the same mass-following that he had received in 2011, none of which have any impact anymore. I feel sad for him, as he is the only person from the gang, other than Kiran Bedi to actually have any grass-root credibility.
- Baba Ramdev seems to have quickly realised that the feet of Laxmi maa is where he wants to be, has converted his mass-following as a yoga-guru into a mass-consumer-base for organic, ayurvedic consumer products and is giving decades-old MNCs a run for their marketshare. His relationship with the other members from the original gang is the same kind one has with a girlfriend / boyfriend with whom one has had an acrimonious breakup.
- Kiran Bedi, having faltered in her first attempt at politics, primarily because she aimed too high, has moved on to what she does best – make the trains run on time and utilise her excellent organisational & administrative skills as Lt Gov of Puducherry (she’s doing some seriously good work there BTW).
- Bhushan & Yadav, having had a very bitter fallout with Kejriwal, are trying their hand at politics through a less-impactful, less-prominent new political party they’ve floated. Their breakup with Kejriwal was like 2 friends-cum-colleagues who having eyed the same promotion, stop being friends after one gets it & lauds it over the other. Their current problem is that they have too many people to rail against – the government, the BJP, the Congress & the AAP. That’s too many for a 2-man party.
- Kejriwal, having won the battle of attrition within the gang, has publicly abused the PM of India while trying to continually equate himself to the PM. Everything is ‘Modiji ne kiya hai’ for him. For those of us who do not live in Delhi, it is hilarious and reminds us of a comedy show. For those who live in Delhi, he is a stark reminder of what cost you pay for a simple mistake of not thinking before voting. After screwing up Delhi with terrible administration, having had over 11 MLAs arrested (http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/aap-mla-arrests-okhla-mla-amanatullah-naresh-in-one-year-11-mlas-in-2934040/) and spending over 500Cr to publicise AAPs non-existing achievements, he has now declared AAP broke. Kejriwal, for the past couple of years has been like Donald Trump – when he opens his mouth, you have no clue what rubbish will come out, though you know for sure that it will be rubbish! The one positive is that Kejriwal has provided almost all Indian stand-up comics with ample material. Not as much as Rahul Gandhi has, but close…
So, India will love Anna for lighting the anti-corruption flame in the minds of the common man. At the same time, they will hate him for elevating Kejriwal and unleashing him on a poor unsuspecting citizenry.
I travel to Delhi quite often always rent cabs for travel and I have yet to meet a cabbie who is happy with Kejriwal. Isn’t that his voter base? The last one was pissed off that he has cancelled surge-pricing on Uber as it has cut down his income.
In the elections round the corner, the AAP may have a glimmer of hope in Punjab, but that is only because the SAD is buried in allegations of drug-corruption and the Congress is clueless. Goa & Gujarat they will be routed, which I fear will make the rubbish emanating from Kejriwal’s mouth even more ridiculous.
Only time will tell…