OPINION

Inaugurating an expressway in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at the culture of giving freebies for votes, which has come to stay in Indian politics. “This Rewri culture (Hindi for freebie culture) is dangerous for the development of the country.  Those with Rewri culture will never build new expressways, new airports or defence corridors for you.  Together we have to defeat this mentality, remove Rewri culture from the politics of the country,” the Prime Minister said at Jalaun.

As far as giving the freebies go, no major political party is blameless. The tendency to canvas votes by promising free or subsidised goods and services is common to all parties. Though initially part of the political narrative in the southern states, it has come to acquire monstrous propositions in north India too especially courtesy the freebie distribution policies of the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi.

Though the Prime Minister did not name any party but he knew where his comments were going to hit hardest. No wonder the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was quick and magnificently vitriolic in their rebuttal to the Prime Minister. “Allegations are being made against me that Kejriwal is distributing free Rewris, Kejriwal is giving freebie. I am being abused, I am being ridiculed. Today I want to ask the people of the country what am I doing wrong? I am giving excellent education to the poor and middle class children of Delhi in government schools, but for free. I want to ask people whether I am distributing free Rewris or laying the foundation of the country,” Delhi Chief Minister said in social media retorts.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has come out with a flurry of advisories, recommendations and directions to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR. These recommendations have created quite a turmoil in the city and its neighbouring townships largely on the account of the directives which would affect the common citizens.

First and foremost, the clamp on the diesel vehicles. The decision to deal the private cars at par with the commercial vehicles comes as a rude shock. It has been decided as part of the new Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to ban diesel vehicles that don’t confirm to BS-VI when Air Quality Index (AQI) is in the “severe-plus” category.

The main objection of the private vehicle owners is that out of the 25 lakh vehicles registered in the national Capital in the past five years, diesel vehicles, which includes the hybrid vehicles, constitute less than five percent. There is also no specific study to indicate specific ‘high’ contribution of diesel vehicles in the pollution caused by automobiles in the city.

The green activists point towards the need to shed the use of private vehicles in the favour of public transport. However, they fail to take into account how deficient is the public transport system in Delhi and its neighbourhood.

In the case of Delhi, the fleet of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has receded to 3900 buses (it could be even less). The government has been encouraging induction of buses by private operators under the cluster system, however, this too has been slow. There are about 3300 buses being run by the private operators. The two together bring the figures to 7200, whereas the expected bus fleet strength in the national Capital should be around 12000 buses.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is an extra-ordinary phenomenon of the Indian politics. Never before has any party been born without a cadre and without a manifesto listing its programmes and policies. It has also not been known to raise a public movement but still continues to flourish.

By citing example of the Anna Hazare Movement, some may say that it’s incorrect that AAP was not born out of public movement. Yes indeed party’s leader Arvind Kejriwal with several others were ‘educated middle-class’ face of the movement which sought to erase corruption in public life.

However, Arvind Kejriwal’s honeymoon with the programmes and policies of the Anna Hazare’s movement did not live for long and within a period of few years it was all over. The AAP, which fought the Delhi assembly polls in 2015 was different both anatomically and physiologically from the one which contested the 2013 polls, held soon after the Anna Movement.

It’s complete over haul of governance which is the need of the hour in Delhi, not just the repair of roads. When it’s said that governance over haul is the need of the hour, its best reflected in the lack of coordination between the state government and the Raj Niwas (Lieutenant Governor’s office) on the issue of the repair of the roads.

Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday last issued a statement saying that he has directed the Chief Secretary to pass directions regarding the repair of ‘One Road per Zone/Division Every Week’. This statement could be seen as a retort as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had gone public announcing that Delhi Government every Saturday would work towards repairing each road in Delhi.

 In a tweet in Hindi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said, “Delhi government’s weekly action plan to make city roads excellent. Every Saturday, every agency (PWD, MCD) will work towards making each road under their jurisdiction excellent.” The L-G tried getting better of Kejriwal in his statement saying the repair, maintenance and cleaning of ‘One Road per Zone/Division Every Week’ would bring much-needed and long-pending relief to the residents and commuters of the national Capital.

A rudderless Delhi unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) must be a sore thumb in the schemes of the saffron outfit. The defeat of a Punjabi candidate from BJP from a Punjabi-dominated Rajender Nagar assembly constituency at the hands of a Purvanchali candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) clearly points towards the unenvious state of the former.

The central leadership is now making an attempt to revive the fortunes of the party in the national Capital using the multiple governance model and entering into the daily chores of governing Delhi. Ever since a corporate honcho Vinai Kumar Saxena took charge as the Lieutenant Governor, the Centre-controlled agencies be it the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) or the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), have been on the toll.

The initiatives of the Centre to wrest advantage from the Arvind Kejriwal-led state government has been necessitated largely because Delhi BJP has not been able to measure up to the challenges posed by the AAP especially through competitive optics and political diatribe. Ever since the exit of Satish Upadhyay as the President of Delhi BJP, the local unit has been, be it under Manoj Tiwari or now Adesh Gupta, found to be totally clueless of the political agenda and programmes it should pursue.