Yogendra Yadav, former AAP leader who is now part of Swaraj Abhiyan, was recently in Chennai to deliver the M.S.S. Pandian Memorial Lecture organised by the Madras Institute of Development Studies and Centre for Studies in Social Transformation. He spoke to Vasanth Srinivasan on a range of topics including the roadmap for the Abhiyan and the evolution of “alternative politics”.
Excerpts from the interview:
You have been earlier quoted as saying that you will launch a political party after meeting the internal benchmarks that you have set for yourselves. Have you set any timeline for meeting these benchmarks?
We did not say we are going to form a party. But of course, we are a political movement and creating an alternative political force is our responsibility. But we have our own benchmarks relating to internal democracy, transparency, accountability in terms of setting up Lok Pal and Lok Ayukta etc., and a certain critical mass across the States. In fact, we just met one benchmark relating to transparency by declaring our expenditure. We did not say the moment all these benchmarks are met, we would start a party. What we did say is that once a duly elected body is in place, it will take a decision.
So you do not feel compelled to do all these in time for the Punjab Assembly elections scheduled for February 2017?
Our goal is to meet all these benchmarks as soon we can. It is not that we have set any particular election as our deadline. This view that we are forming a party for Punjab election is a misconception. This is a general process on which we have taken a general decision and we want to do it in the most public and transparent way.
These internal benchmarks are an attempt to avoid an ‘AAP-like’ situation…
Naturally! The least that we owe to ourselves and everyone in this country is to demonstrate that we are different. At the moment, who are we? We are the self-appointed leaders of this movement. There should be a proper election (internal), and once it is held, the duly elected leaders should take a decision. That will be in the fitness of things.
AAP is said to emerging as a front runner in the Punjab election. Of course, you may dispute that…
Why should I dispute that… (laughs)
So Swaraj Abhiyan, as and when it becomes a political party, will be primarily undercutting AAP instead of taking on the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress. How do you see this?
I can say one thing for sure. As and when we enter politics, we will not do it just for undercutting AAP or any such party. If we do start a party, we will do it in a positive way. Playing a spoiler for AAP is not our ambition in life. We have better things to do. Much of what we have done in recent months like our work in Bundelkhand (which is facing a drought) and the Shiksha Swaraj initiative in U.P. (dealing with educational discrimination and mismanagement) has nothing to do with AAP. What Punjab needs today above everything else is the removal of the Akali Dal government. And we would not want to play the role of a spoiler.
You had earlier spoken about ‘environmental politics’ as part of ‘alternative politics’. Recently, S.P. Udayakumar, who heads the movement against the Kudankulam nuclear plant and who was one of the AAP candidates in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, started his own party called Pachai Tamizhagam (Green Tamil Nadu). How do you see this?
We welcome any such initiatives. It is not that we will oppose anyone who does not come under our umbrella. We want to move away from such traditional notions. Every party in this country has monopolistic tendencies. They all feel we are the only one who is right and everyone else is an enemy of the nation. This country does not need a centralised national party. We need to think about a grand coalition. We are in touch with most of these like-minded parties.
But Udayakumar when he was in AAP was also peeved about regional aspirations not being accommodated in the party’s framework. You think Swaraj Abhiyan will be able to do justice to these kind of aspirations?
What we call regional aspirations in a large country like India is actually the very stuff of politics. Any alternative political force must be a federal force. There are two ways of conserving unity. One is unity dictated from Delhi that travels downwards. But our civilisation has a very different notion of unity which is a composite unity where regional forces and aspirations come together for a national identity. I am aware of these unresolved issues. Sometimes, I was part of the mediation committee and sometimes I was in the direct range of fire. (laughs)
Particularly on the foreign policy front…
Yes, on foreign policy, no political party or an alternative force can have two different versions, say one from Tamil Nadu and the other from Karnataka. These are difficult negotiations but we should have them. Some questions relating to Tamil politics hinge on foreign policy. There has to be a dialogue. It cannot be unilaterally decided. For instance, West Bengal cannot dictate India’s Bangladesh policy. But the State needs to be one of the primary interlocutors. So, this can be addressed.
