Interview: Don’t count our MPs, weigh them, says Kumar Vishvas
May 15, 2014
Ghaziabad: Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishvas is locked in a three-cornered electoral battle in Amethi against Rahul Gandhi and BJP’s Smriti Irani. The 44-year old AAP leader, known for his off the cuff remarks, says he is confident of winning over the Gandhi bastion where he camped for three months.
Q. One day to the results of the big fight, what are your expectations?
A. We entered this arena about one and a half years ago with a mission to change the way politics runs in the nation. The only expectation and wish we have, is to see how much we have succeeded in our mission. I do respect the electoral process, but I add strongly that politics is way larger than elections. Tomorrow numbers will be in focus, but what is more important to me is how much impact did our hard work create on the voters. We would like to see what is the effect of reaching-out and communicating with the last person of the society. We would like to see what is the effect of the two-way communication with the voters, something which is new for the Indian political system.
Q. How many seats do you see coming to the AAP?
A. Let me answer this question with a couplet. Someone has said, “Jamhooriyat wo tarz-e-hukoomat hai ki jisme, bando ko ginaa jaata hai taulaa nahi jaata.” (In a democracy, people are only counted and not weighed). Unfortunately, in the recent past, Indian democracy has seen a similar phase. Only quantity matters and quality is often unaccounted for. But in the new politics that AAP wants to establish, quality has space too. So, whether AAP gets 1 seat or 100 seats, it doesn’t matter much, because even a single AAP MP will stand against anything wrong happening around us. So, for an AAP MPs, don’t count them, weigh them.
Q. The exit polls have predicted a dismal performance for the AAP? What do you have to say?
A. The exit polls are more of a guessing game rather than the actual representation. If you talk of exit polls, they predicted 4 to 5 seats for the AAP in the Delhi assembly polls, and we came out with 28. So, it would be immature to comment on this. But even then, if we take the exit polls as actual results, I would say it is a great beginning. Politics is not a thing limited to one election. AAP will go higher and higher starting with this election.
Q. Do you think that the AAP committed mistakes that dented your prospects?
A. We did some things right, and some others things wrong, and there were decisions that seemed right, but feel wrong once their repercussions are seen. Let us talk about a crucial cricket match, where the last over is set to decide the win or loss. Further, another thing happened, what I call “Headline Conspiracy”. There are a few media houses that have been known to have their hidden agenda. Actually it is very easy to twist the flavor of the tale merely by putting a misleading headline. Same story could be titled as “Kejriwal quits Delhi midway for Lok Sabha dreams?” or as “Kejriwal sacrifices CM’s post for his commitment to Janlokpal”. It’s the headline that makes noise on social media as most of the youngsters are in a habit of reacting before reading the full story. So, the so-called dent in the image was more due to misbranding rather than making mistakes.
Q. Many in the party have left saying there is a lack of democracy in the party? Your comments.
A. It’s unfortunate that some of our friends left the party due to various reasons ranging from personal political inclination to publicity stunt. Some people joined the party with vested interests, or to get an important positions, and when they did not get that they said there is a “lack of democracy”, it’s really unfortunate. Position seekers left the party, as we do not have thousands of positions in the party. This party runs on volunteers, no genuine volunteer has ever asked for a position in the party. Those who think that parties run from 10 Janpath or Nagpur are democratic, then they are free to join them.
Q. If Mr Vishwas is given one opportunity to change one decision of AAP, which would that be?
A. Maybe we could have dealt with the resignation from the Delhi government a bit better.
Q. Which was a bigger mistake: forming a government in Delhi or resigning?
A. I have maintained that resigning from Delhi government was not a mistake. We were committed to pass the Jan Lokpal. I have said in my previous interviews, that if Arvind would have retained his CM post after failing to fulfill the Jan Lokpal commitment, I would have been the first person to stand against him. But in the public imagination, we could not establish the actual matrix that made us resign. It finally ended up as a “mistake” due to the misbranding. We were unable to convince the nation why we quit.
Q. Do you think you failed the people of Delhi? The support base, according to surveys and polls is going down.
A. No, the support base is not going down at all! Even when exit polls are predicting 1-2 seats for us in Delhi, the percentage of vote share has not decreased, and that is the beauty. Even if we talk of other states, the 12% or 14% or 20% people voting for us see a hope in the party.
Q. There are talks that you are not very happy with the party? Is it true?
A. The formation of this question is bit vague. I am not happy with the party means nothing. What is the party made of? I am one nerve of the party, Arvind is another, and similarly each and every volunteer is a tissue of the party. Being a part of the party, there can’t be a question of being unhappy. Any difference of opinion leads to a healthy discussion and debate, after which decisions are finalized. That’s why we always say that we are trying to establish a new political system in India.
Q. One last question, in case you have to choose between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, who will you choose?
A. Heads and tails may decide the fate of a decision in a cricket field, but they are two sides of the same coin.
May 15, 2014
Ghaziabad: Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishvas is locked in a three-cornered electoral battle in Amethi against Rahul Gandhi and BJP’s Smriti Irani. The 44-year old AAP leader, known for his off the cuff remarks, says he is confident of winning over the Gandhi bastion where he camped for three months.
A. We entered this arena about one and a half years ago with a mission to change the way politics runs in the nation. The only expectation and wish we have, is to see how much we have succeeded in our mission. I do respect the electoral process, but I add strongly that politics is way larger than elections. Tomorrow numbers will be in focus, but what is more important to me is how much impact did our hard work create on the voters. We would like to see what is the effect of reaching-out and communicating with the last person of the society. We would like to see what is the effect of the two-way communication with the voters, something which is new for the Indian political system.
Q. How many seats do you see coming to the AAP?
A. Let me answer this question with a couplet. Someone has said, “Jamhooriyat wo tarz-e-hukoomat hai ki jisme, bando ko ginaa jaata hai taulaa nahi jaata.” (In a democracy, people are only counted and not weighed). Unfortunately, in the recent past, Indian democracy has seen a similar phase. Only quantity matters and quality is often unaccounted for. But in the new politics that AAP wants to establish, quality has space too. So, whether AAP gets 1 seat or 100 seats, it doesn’t matter much, because even a single AAP MP will stand against anything wrong happening around us. So, for an AAP MPs, don’t count them, weigh them.
Q. The exit polls have predicted a dismal performance for the AAP? What do you have to say?
A. The exit polls are more of a guessing game rather than the actual representation. If you talk of exit polls, they predicted 4 to 5 seats for the AAP in the Delhi assembly polls, and we came out with 28. So, it would be immature to comment on this. But even then, if we take the exit polls as actual results, I would say it is a great beginning. Politics is not a thing limited to one election. AAP will go higher and higher starting with this election.
Q. Do you think that the AAP committed mistakes that dented your prospects?
A. We did some things right, and some others things wrong, and there were decisions that seemed right, but feel wrong once their repercussions are seen. Let us talk about a crucial cricket match, where the last over is set to decide the win or loss. Further, another thing happened, what I call “Headline Conspiracy”. There are a few media houses that have been known to have their hidden agenda. Actually it is very easy to twist the flavor of the tale merely by putting a misleading headline. Same story could be titled as “Kejriwal quits Delhi midway for Lok Sabha dreams?” or as “Kejriwal sacrifices CM’s post for his commitment to Janlokpal”. It’s the headline that makes noise on social media as most of the youngsters are in a habit of reacting before reading the full story. So, the so-called dent in the image was more due to misbranding rather than making mistakes.
Q. Many in the party have left saying there is a lack of democracy in the party? Your comments.
A. It’s unfortunate that some of our friends left the party due to various reasons ranging from personal political inclination to publicity stunt. Some people joined the party with vested interests, or to get an important positions, and when they did not get that they said there is a “lack of democracy”, it’s really unfortunate. Position seekers left the party, as we do not have thousands of positions in the party. This party runs on volunteers, no genuine volunteer has ever asked for a position in the party. Those who think that parties run from 10 Janpath or Nagpur are democratic, then they are free to join them.
Q. If Mr Vishwas is given one opportunity to change one decision of AAP, which would that be?
A. Maybe we could have dealt with the resignation from the Delhi government a bit better.
Q. Which was a bigger mistake: forming a government in Delhi or resigning?
A. I have maintained that resigning from Delhi government was not a mistake. We were committed to pass the Jan Lokpal. I have said in my previous interviews, that if Arvind would have retained his CM post after failing to fulfill the Jan Lokpal commitment, I would have been the first person to stand against him. But in the public imagination, we could not establish the actual matrix that made us resign. It finally ended up as a “mistake” due to the misbranding. We were unable to convince the nation why we quit.
Q. Do you think you failed the people of Delhi? The support base, according to surveys and polls is going down.
A. No, the support base is not going down at all! Even when exit polls are predicting 1-2 seats for us in Delhi, the percentage of vote share has not decreased, and that is the beauty. Even if we talk of other states, the 12% or 14% or 20% people voting for us see a hope in the party.
Q. There are talks that you are not very happy with the party? Is it true?
A. The formation of this question is bit vague. I am not happy with the party means nothing. What is the party made of? I am one nerve of the party, Arvind is another, and similarly each and every volunteer is a tissue of the party. Being a part of the party, there can’t be a question of being unhappy. Any difference of opinion leads to a healthy discussion and debate, after which decisions are finalized. That’s why we always say that we are trying to establish a new political system in India.
Q. One last question, in case you have to choose between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, who will you choose?
A. Heads and tails may decide the fate of a decision in a cricket field, but they are two sides of the same coin.
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This story was first published in www.thepoliticalindian.com on May 15, 2014. It was also published by Rediff.com.
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