An
Open Letter of an AAM AADMI – Political Slug-fest Ends – Wait till March 11,
2017
February
6, 2017
Dear
Voters of Punjab,
This
is the last but one open letter with regard to the Punjab elections. I will
write again after the election results of March 11, 2017. Till then let us keep
our fingers crossed.
After
the voting on February 4, the fate of all the candidates has been sealed in the
EVMs which are stored in the strong rooms of the administration. The voting
percentage of about 77.3% of 1.99 crore voters remained lower than expected. It
was good that female
voters came out in good numbers as compared to the male
voters. The rural areas were found to be more enthusiastic to participate in
the festival of democracy as compared to their urban compatriots. It was
gratifying to note that it was more or less a peaceful exercise in the face of
doubts. Besides these salient points, I think the biggest visible difference
this time was that it was a keen three cornered slug-fest since the first
elections in 1952. Till about 1967-68, it was a one sided affair with the
Congress party in the lead with marginalized opposition from the Left parties,
Akali Dal, Jan Sangh among others. The Akali led coalition under Justice Gurnam
Singh broke the pattern and unseated the Congress in 1967-68 for the first
time. Thereafter, the Congress party and the Akali Dal or Akali Dal led
alliances played musical chairs and took turns in governing the state. This
time a new player, AAP, appeared on the scene and upset the apple-cart. People
in general welcomed this new development as they were yearning for a change.
The traditional parties like Congress and Akalis and also the BJP were made to
face a real challenge by the volatile volunteers and observers of the AAP.
Almost all the 117 constituencies witnessed three cornered contests. Earlier
last year, it was felt that AAP was making steady inroads and winning the
favour of the general populace but later as time passed it lost the momentum
due to infighting and corruption charges etc. Finally, in the run up to the elections
on February 4, it turned out to be a keenly contested fight to reach the
corridors of power in Chandigarh. The pollsters felt that no one party would be
able to make it and it will end up in a stalemate. But after the elections, the
revised assessments and analysis indicated that perhaps AAP will be able to
make it with 60-65 seats and scrape through to form the next government. Let us
wait for March 11 results and see the wonders of democracy.
Being
a novice observer as an Aam Aadmi, I have been advising and sounding the AAP
leadership about the importance of dalit vote particularly in the Doaba region.
I have been suggesting reaching out to the educated dalit youth and established
middle class. Though the dalits are a divided lot on the basis of political
affiliations and also under the blind influence of religious and spiritual
Deras yet the educated dalits are awakened and are keen to stand to vouch for
their core interests. Any party with good and sincere approach to address their
interests and concerns was likely to gain their favour. Out of 23 seats in Doaba where dalits are
concentrated, 15 seats depend on the dalit swing. These 10-15 seats would make
or mar the next governing dispensation. This is my naïve assessment.
Considering
my interest and inclination, on advice from the AAP headquarters in Delhi, I
joined AAP on February 24, 2016. It is almost a year now that I have been
associated with and working for the party as a humble foot soldier. For me, it
has been a mixed but
educative experience. I was an aspirant to contest
elections. But my party did not endorse my interest and application for this. I
accepted the decision with grace as a trained, faceless and disciplined
diplomat. Instead, I decided and worked as a self appointed ‘ears and eyes’ of
the party in Jalandhar and shared, mostly in writing, my observations,
assessments and analysis with the leadership particularly on the issues of
concern and interest to the weaker sections of the society. I only hope that my
humble contribution will find due recognition with the AAP leadership in the
spirit of poetic expression of an English poet John Milton ‘those who stand and
wait also serve’.
With
this, I conclude this with all the best wishes to the people of Punjab. They
will get the government they deserve after March 11.
With
regards,
Yours
truly,
(Ramesh Chander)
Ambassador – IFS (Retired)
Tele:09988510940
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