News Politics National Arvind Kejriwal: A politics of articulated angst

Arvind Kejriwal: A politics of articulated angst

He may be a toddler in Indian politics but Arvind Kejriwal is also its "sole symbol of hope, a true aberration to the existing structures, an outsider who has challenged established parties and ideas of

It speaks admiringly of Kejriwal, his ideas, his ideals, his passion, his team and his stubborn determination to take on an entrenched system. But the authors are not into hero worship: they point out when Kejriwal and the AAP floundered.

One such occasion was the street protest by Kejriwal, despite being the chief minister of Delhi, an act that didn't earn the appreciation of even some AAP supporters. His sudden resignation earned widespread crticism even from admirers.

The book calls it a naïve opinion that the Jan Lokpal is the panacea to all problems of corruption in India. Kejriwal's uncritical support of the auto-rickshaw drivers of Delhi also upset the authors. They also find fault with Kejriwal for assuming that only the government can help in employment creation.

But on one critical point the authors give the thumbs up to AAP: yes, it did deliver governance in Delhi. "You could say that in less than one month, he opened the proverbial Pandora's box, lying closed for 67 years."

Is the income tax officer-turned-activist-turned AAP leader an anarchist? "Kejriwal believes that he will not be able to change the system simply by being part of it. The only way forward for him, therefore, is to break the system down." In other words, "Arvind Kejriwal is a politics of articulated angst."