It is certainly a matter of satisfaction that the idealistic Aam Aadmi Party has fared so well in its very first election. It is inspiring to see youngsters like ex-NSG commando Surender Singh, who retired after he was injured during the 26/11 Mumbai attack, venturing into politics. All thanks to the AAP and Anna Hazare.
Poornima Balasubramanian,Chennai
The Delhi elections have now reinforced the meaning of ‘democracy’ — the supremacy of the people. Corruption during the last Commonwealth Games and the Delhi government’s reaction to the December 16 gang rape (among others) have not faded from people’s memory. It was indeed gratifying to see a one-year-old ‘broom’ sweeping away a government that ruled for 15 years.
Chandni Dinakaran,Washington D.C.
The Delhi Assembly election has catapulted the AAP, which offers an altogether new platform to the masses, to the centre stage. An amateur party, barely a year old, has accomplished the incredible feat of taking on both the Congress and the BJP successfully. The results show that the AAP has support across different sections. Its candidates have won from middle-class colonies as well as upper-class constituencies. The AAP’s election campaign showed that it is possible for parties to be transparent. For the first time, a party collected white and ethical money for politics, disclosed all forms of donations received, and refused any more once it achieved the target it had set . It also issued manifestos for every single constituency and meaningfully restored the old culture of door-to-door canvassing. The record turnout in the election and the popular support for a new political outfit indeed mark the beginning of a new era in Indian politics.
Farzana Z. Khan,Nagpur
The AAP has surpassed all estimates of how a nascent political party can perform in its first election. That said, the AAP is full of newcomers. It is thus vulnerable to failure if it does not go slow or learn the ropes. It will stand the AAP in good stead to support the BJP, participate in governance and learn how things really work. If it gets carried away by its success, it will surely make a laughing stock of itself.
Niranjan Desai,Anandbagh
The AAP’s victory is the result of people’s anger with the Congress and the careful selling of dreams, with an exaggerated and unrealistic manifesto. The support of the youth and funding of NRIs, who have been made to believe that the AAP will change everything overnight in Delhi, is the crucial factor that tilted the election results in its favour. The support for the AAP is metro-based and will not have any political impact except, maybe, in a few big cities. Now that it has started tasting power, it may not be long before it goes the way of other political parties.
Israel K. Mani,The Nilgiris
Now that the people of Delhi have given their verdict, it is clear that no party should come to power with the help of the Congress. While it would hurt people if the AAP joined hands with either the BJP or the Congress, a coalition of the BJP and the Congress would mean an intersection of conflicting ideologies. It would be interesting to see how the situation in Delhi develops in the coming days.
Nithya G. Nair,Thiruvananthapuram
We must give thanks to Arvind Kejriwal for making us realise that the aam aadmi can bring about a revolution at any time. That the AAP is firm, in spite of pressure, in its stand to not go in for an alliance with the BJP or any other party is heartening. Those who argue that a re-election would be expensive perhaps overlook the money involved in scams. The amount spent on a re-election can be considered a small token given for the fight for corruption-free governance.
Kashish George,Kochi
We have been seeing too much hype given to the AAP after the Delhi results. As per the vote share, it leads only in one seat. One more thing to understand is that the raise of the AAP was due to issues that mainly affected National Capital Region,which will affect hardly other regions.
Manish Kulkarni,Bangalore
