We have seen two Arvind Kejriwals so far. There is a Citizen Kejriwal, whom we all like, and there is a Populist Kejriwal, and this persona is not who the citizens of Delhi voted for. On the dimension of personal probity, there is Honest Arvind. He speaks the language of clean government and politics with the purpose of serving the people. But there is also an Arvind who seems to lack deeper honesty - an honesty that acknowledges a mistake and makes amends; an honesty which calls for telling the truth to the people, especially when this truth is not palatable or popular. We saw Citizen Kejriwal in full flow at last evening's Delhi assembly trust vote. I doubt anyone was left unmoved by the directness and simplicity of his speech - and the TV channels were quick to contrast this Kejriwal with the Congress' and BJP's double-speak on corruption. But even before the appearance of Citizen Kejriwal, we saw Populist Kejriwal announcing measures to give free water to the privileged, and not-yet-warranted cuts in power bills. And we even saw him justifying these actions during the trust vote when he said he saw nothing wrong in a free water scheme that may benefit only 400,000 or even 200,000 people. So what's wrong with that, he asked us, even as we were being bowled over by Citizen Kejriwal. The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP’s) supporters in the media used these bad decisions to laud Kejriwal for keeping his promises. During a honeymoon period, even warts look like beauty spots to lovers. But should we not stop to ask: which politician does not keep his freebie promises?
The rational counter to the assumption that keeping a promise is always a good thing is this: promises that should never have been made are worth wriggling out of. And promises that only involve handing out taxpayers' money to voters are not as important as delivering great governance and making fundamental long-term changes that will make our polity less corrupt and venal. How many media people would applaud the BJP if it came to power and decided building in temple in Ayodhya is its top priority – after all it has been making this promise in manifesto after manifesto? Would they laud the fact that the BJP is trying to keep its promise? This is where Kejriwal’s apparent honesty is at variance with a deeper form of honesty that all politicians lack. If you have made a rash or dubious promise, real honesty requires you to recant and apologise, not go ahead with ideas that almost the entire media has criticised. To be sure, some media commentators have even seen virtue in giving free water or cheaper electricity (clean water can reduce water-borne diseases, and cheaper power will enable the poor to be more productive, etc). A related argument is that by capping the amount of water given free, Kejriwal is actually enabling water conservation.
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/how-kejriwal-has-just-set-back-power-reforms-by-3-5-years-1320739.html?utm_source=ref_article
The rational counter to the assumption that keeping a promise is always a good thing is this: promises that should never have been made are worth wriggling out of. And promises that only involve handing out taxpayers' money to voters are not as important as delivering great governance and making fundamental long-term changes that will make our polity less corrupt and venal. How many media people would applaud the BJP if it came to power and decided building in temple in Ayodhya is its top priority – after all it has been making this promise in manifesto after manifesto? Would they laud the fact that the BJP is trying to keep its promise? This is where Kejriwal’s apparent honesty is at variance with a deeper form of honesty that all politicians lack. If you have made a rash or dubious promise, real honesty requires you to recant and apologise, not go ahead with ideas that almost the entire media has criticised. To be sure, some media commentators have even seen virtue in giving free water or cheaper electricity (clean water can reduce water-borne diseases, and cheaper power will enable the poor to be more productive, etc). A related argument is that by capping the amount of water given free, Kejriwal is actually enabling water conservation.
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/how-kejriwal-has-just-set-back-power-reforms-by-3-5-years-1320739.html?utm_source=ref_article
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