The AAP as part of a global phenomenon

The rise of the Aam Aadmi Party is part of a global protest against the rapid growth of urbanisation and accompanying inequality

February 27, 2015 01:35 am | Updated February 28, 2015 01:04 am IST

DISSATISFACTION: “The protests in Hong Kong were not just about universal suffrage; they were about a larger issue of urban inequality and lack of opportunities.” Picture shows protestors with the Occupy movement symbol in Hong Kong.

DISSATISFACTION: “The protests in Hong Kong were not just about universal suffrage; they were about a larger issue of urban inequality and lack of opportunities.” Picture shows protestors with the Occupy movement symbol in Hong Kong.

It is an important point now in Indian politics with the stupendous emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi: the ruling party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are now forced to introspect within months of their unprecedented victory in the Lok Sabha election. While a lot of the credit for the AAP’s victory has been given to party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, there is a subtle, yet decisive, global trend that has given rise to the party.

Globalisation has engulfed the world over the past 25 years, especially after the fall of the USSR. It has been projected as the pillar of capitalism, and there has been a lot of focus on urbanisation — an offshoot of globalisation — which has caused enormous socio-economic changes. While the endeavour for high growth has provided opportunities to many people and lifted several out of poverty, it has also had its own set of challenges. As Thomas Piketty wrote in his book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” inequality is present in most of the major cities in the world. This has created a situation where there are large chunks of people in cities who are unemployed or impoverished; people who have been promised opportunities but have been neglected since income is concentrated in the hands of a few. These people are now becoming a vocal majority, asking questions about how economics is fundamentally functioning in the world. We have seen this in New York, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong, London and Paris, and New Delhi is no exception.

Movements across the world An example of political movements riding on this sentiment is the rise of the Workers’ Party in Brazil. The emergence of Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva (Lula) was synonymous with a left-of-centre “bottom-up” kind of participatory politics which broke the conventional stereotype of democracy in South America. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is a protégé of Mr. Lula who was President in 2002 and has been an integral part of his party since its early days. The Workers’ Party emerged while addressing the negative effects of urbanisation which plagued the city of Sao Paulo.

Besides Brazil, countries in Europe have faced similar movements that have addressed inequality. The rise of Syriza, the leftist anti-austerity party in Greece, has been another example of the growing frustration with crony capitalism that thrives in most countries. According to records, in 2013, Greece had 62 per cent of its population in its cities. Its leader Alexis Tsipras moved beyond the core left ideology and focussed on the impact of the debt crisis and inequality in Greece, to win a landmark election a month ago.

Another example is the protests in Hong Kong. The emergence of these protests was not just about universal suffrage; it was about a larger issue of urban inequality and lack of opportunities for the country’s citizens. Almost 1.3 million people (19 per cent) of Hong Kong live below the poverty line and the income distribution Gino coefficient was at 5.4 in 2011. Even in the United States, there have been growing concerns in cities such as New York and Los Angeles over the increasing levels of urban inequality. One in every three children lives in poverty according to U.S. Census Bureau, and according to the Census’ American Community Survey, the top 5 per cent of households earned 88 per cent as much as the bottom 20 per cent. The Occupy Wall Street movement, even though it fizzled out, was an indicator that inequality triggered by basic issues is at the centre of social issues concerning major metropolitan cities across the world.

Urbanisation in India Most of these movements have resulted from city-based urban issues. The after-effects of urbanisation have resulted in small movements which have transformed into national movements over time. Issues such as inequality and unemployment have been rampant in Indian urban places also. India has been urbanising at a rapid pace: according to the 2011 Census, 31.6 per cent of the population has been urbanised — this is an increase from the 11.1 per cent of almost a century ago. According to a report by the UN State of the World Population report, over 40.76 per cent of the population will be urban by 2030. In addition, according to the United Nation’s World Urbanisation Report 2014, India is projected to add an astounding 404 million urban people which is almost one third of its overall population today. With rapid urbanisation comes rapid migration to and between cities, and issues such as inequality, emerging from these conditions, could transform into a national movement.

It is in this context that the Modi-led government needs to understand the AAP’s potential to be the BJP’s most potent threat in the medium and long term. With the Congress being directionless, it is the AAP that can set the agenda after its win in Delhi. The AAP offers a contrast which bears striking similarities to the movements in countries such as Brazil; it is left-of-centre leaning, caters to the needs of the workers, the unemployed and the common man, speaks the language of daily needs, and is led by a charismatic, yet shrewd, leader. In contrast is the centre-right politics of the BJP.

Hence the consolidation of the minority vote is also a matter of concern for the BJP. The en masse consolidation of this vote in Delhi, which belonged to the Congress earlier, could become a pan Indian phenomenon if left unchecked. The issues that concern Delhi are apparent everywhere in India. Even the success of the Anna Hazare movement was not because of corruption alone but because of the inequality between the political and elite class and the rest of India. India has not witnessed the negative after-effects of globalisation on the streets as much as other countries; the AAP is in prime position to capitalise on it. It is imperative that Mr. Modi looks at this undercurrent and addresses the issues of rapid urbanisation. His excessive focus on foreign policy can woo the elites but has little impact on the aam aadmi. Besides macro vision goals, there has to be a mechanism to address the aam aadmi ’s daily needs, and there has to be greater propagation of the successes of the government rather than the persona of Mr. Modi himself. Also, Mr. Modi’s “vikas” has to be inclusive, not address only certain sections of society.

In retrospect, the rise of the AAP is not surprising in India. It is part of a global phenomenon which is bound to spread across the world unless governments adopt a more inclusive development agenda.

(Sriram Balasubramanian is a freelance journalist. E-mail: sriram2424@yahoo.com)

Correction

>>The Comment page article, “The AAP as part of a global phenomenon” (Feb. 27, 2015), had misspelt the name of the Prime Minister of Greece as Alexis Tsaparis . It should have been Alexis Tsipras .

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