Cleverer by half
A lot has been said about the man,
Arvind Kejriwal who was sworn in as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi
today from the Ram Lila Maidan. Some call him opportunists, others call him
brash and arrogant, and still others see in him a messiah of the common man,
one among themselves who rose to prominence through unchartered territory and
means untried. One who is destined to fulfil the limited aspirations of the
common folk?
It remains to be seen if he can
deliver what has been promised and to that extent the world’s eyes will be on
this diminutive man, who plotted his way to the top. I say plotted for want of a better word,
because he plays his cards spontaneously. He is one who can spot a wedge and
pry it open with his purposeful agenda. The man himself admits that he is a
difficult person to be with what with his insistence on his methods which leave
his followers with little choice.
That he has been successful
speaks volumes about the man and his single minded determination to not let go
of an opportunity. He has been able to pick on the gaps and turn it to his
advantage when least expected by his opponents and critics. Wily, because he
was always determined to reach the top using the legal framework and through
legal means at the most opportunist moment. It would be foolish to think that
he was never interested in any position of authority; the truth is he was
always interested in growing but he used the pulse of the people and the
helplessness of an electorate cleverly and with dogged determination to achieve
his goals.
Even now he harbours a national
agenda and is wily enough to be articulating his view points as that of the
people, as if to suggest that if it cannot be done then it is the common man
and his aspirations that would have failed and not him. He is a good hedger,
able to hedge skilfully with the bets he places on his agenda.
Look at a few instances of
somersault where he skilfully backtracked on his loud pronouncements only to
roll back and propel the thrashed viewpoint in a new fashion almost cleverly
hood winking the common man into believing that he has done something
different. When the Anna Hazare movement for the Janlokpal began he took up the
subject of corruption and how a strong Janlokpal bill would be the remedy as if
it was a magic wand. They announced on stage that all politicians were corrupt,
but within months he formed his own party stating the fact that he was
challenged to change the system from within, so much so for politicians being
corrupt.
Then look at the promise of
reducing electricity tariff by 50% and providing 700 litres water free to every
household in his manifesto, today he says that he has no magic wand and he
needs time to bring about changes. He has already started to put across the
viewpoint that if not 50% then a substantial reduction would be pursued. Again
he said that he would not form a Government with the support of either the
Congress or the BJP, but today he has very smartly used the Congresses’ letter
written to the Lt. Governor as an excuse to form his own Government while
propagating the view that whispers were growing louder that he was running away
from his responsibilities.
This was the same man who had
loudly viewed his take that if there is a hung house then re-election was the
only alternative. This is the same man who once proclaimed from every available
television top that both the main parties were corrupt and there was no way he
would take their backing. Today he skilfully goes around this position and
states that he is still not taking anyone’s support and all likeminded
legislative members should support him in the interest of the nation. So
shrewdly has he usurped the tag of the common man messiah that anyone who dares
to differ will be tarnished as not siding with the upright and therefore
leftover of the past, tainted and against the common man. The experience he has
gained from being a street fighter stands him in good stead as far as
understanding the pulse of the people is concerned and he is definitely a cleverer
politician that the lot we have, and it is this that propels him to ‘push the
envelope’ on every occasion without being challenged in the traditional
way.
It remains to be seen how he
handles the enormous pressures that await him along with the preying eyes of
the common man and the inquisitive media watching every step he takes while
fervently praying for his success. However one thing is certain, no matter what
ever may be the ultimate outcome of his stint as Chief Minister and his
experiments with’ truth’, the common refrain is that he would be able to
wriggle out of tight and seemingly impossible situations, simply because he
happens to be a clever politician who is by far way ahead of the rest.
He has the knack or clever
instincts of doing things the right way at the right time and is determined enough
to shake off friends and opponents to pursue his own course even if it means
parting ways with the likes of his onetime mentor and his ‘God’ Anna Hazare, even
if it means rephrasing a thrashed agenda skilfully. All said and done the man
has an extremely agile and ticking mind and it won’t be long before he becomes
an inspirational speaker at top Management institutes.
28th December 2013
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