AAPle of the eye

It was a political party that was born out of a strong anti-corruption movement spearheaded by activist Anna Hazare. But when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was formed there were enough and more birth pangs. Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal had split with his mentor Anna Hazare. As the anti-graft movement had captured national attention, the split too got its unfair share of attention across the country. That other prominent anti-graft activists such as former super cop Kiran Bedi and former army chief V. K. Singh also threw their weight behind Hazare showed that Kejriwal and his colleagues at the AAP had their task cut out.

Everyone knows what happened later. The AAP emerged as unlikely heroes as the curtains came down on 2013. And the party, formed just over a year ago, is now heading a State Government in the national Capital with Kejriwal as chief minister. So what were the ingredients that went into its success? “The virtues that AAP claims for itself – a clean image, incorruptibility, denial of perks and privileges of power and funding based on people’s contributions – are all part of the style and practice of the Communists from the outset,” says CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat. But AAP brought something extra to the table.

From Facebook accounts to mobile phone applications, the AAP used all possible ways of communication to reach out to the masses, particularly to the youth who are connected like never before. But the scoring point for AAP was that it attracted not just the youth or the affluent who had access to gadgets, but also touched the poorest of the poor.

During the high-voltage assembly election campaign in Delhi, Kejriwal often narrated an incident that made a lasting impression. A rickshaw puller offered Kejriwal his entire life’s savings to the party that has as its agenda a fight against corruption, nepotism and other evils. Kejriwal says this incident cemented his conviction that AAP is liked not just by the middle class, but by those who live down the social strata too. When the party won 28 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, it proved beyond doubt that there was some element of truth in Kejriwal’s conviction.

The AAP election campaign is often compared to that of US President Barack Obama and his team in 2008. Similar to Obama, Kejriwal and his team too were the underdogs who came out triumphant. The party, however, believes the comparison is just coincidental. “While many features of our campaign have been regarded as being similar to Obama’s campaign, these similarities have happened spontaneously. We did not study their campaign or use it as a model. Our methods were evolved by our campaign team and volunteers,” says Deepak Bajpai, a coordinator with the AAP.

The selection of the broom as its election symbol was a key milestone. According to the party, the ‘broom’ symbol was one of the options available in the list given by the Election Commission. The party’s National Executive unanimously decided that it would be appropriate given its intent to clean the system. “With the broom which symbolises dignity of labour, the party hopes to clean the filth which has permeated our government and our legislature. The country needs a clean sweep of its corrupted mainstream political parties,” says a press statement from AAP.

Party officials say the main communication strategy AAP used was to make the common man feel they were stakeholders in the ‘movement’. This seems to have worked. A Government official who works closely with the AAP team told BrandLine on the condition of anonymity that the genuine urge for social change is bringing people to the AAP.

This aspiration for change has been the cornerstone of AAP’s campaign. What started off as the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement under Hazare had already given the AAP a readymade platform to take the cause and give it a political ambition. The IAC had built a substantial database of like-minded citizens using tactics like asking interested people to give a missed call to be a part of the movement, to sending text messages, enlisting through social networks and so on. AAP only ensured that this idea continues. Till date, more than 12 million people have already shared their details with the party, through text messages, letters, telephone calls, Facebook, email and Twitter feeds. The membership of the party is also growing manifold. While AAP had about half-a-million members till the announcement of the results of Delhi elections, barely a month later that figure has now increased to around a million.

Another key takeaway from Anna Hazare’s anti-graft campaign was the Gandhi topi . While the earlier campaign had “I am Anna Hazare” printed on the sides of the cap, with the AAP volunteers of the party wore Gandhi caps with the party’s symbol and party’s name. The simple yet high-visibility campaign worked as it helped voters directly connect to the party’s ‘ideals’. It was not just a symbolic campaign. The party also launched a Jhadoo chalao beimaan bhagao andolan (use the broom drive away dishonesty campaign) that travelled through the national capital and helped the party to directly connect with the voters.

Also, at a time when the prices of onion skyrocketed in Delhi, AAP candidates set up several onion stalls across their constituencies, taking the line Jhadoo chalao mehangai bhagao (use the broom to drive away inflation). Thousand of kilograms of onions were sold from the AAP stalls at a rate of Rs 40, when the open market price was about Rs 90. In a couple of constituencies, over 10,000 kg of onions were sold at low prices. There were long queues in front of the AAP onion stalls.

The party says that many features of the Delhi campaign would be replicated in the national election too. “Such a vibrant campaign would help us have direct contact with the people. However, many things would change as the geographic scale of the national elections is very different,” Bajpai added.

Building a national party remains a challenge for the AAP as the organisation structure is more or less “loose”. The party leadership sees two main challenges before it: Erecting an organisational structure and establishing a proper communication channel through that structure.

The party is built on 10 core values. “There are many people with a good intention in politics who want to work honestly for the people of India. But the current system of polity does not allow honest politicians to function. We are also not claiming that every single person who joins our party will be 100 per cent honest,” it says, discussing one such principle.

Volunteers are the key strength of the party. That number is increasing day by day including some hot-shot business executives such as MNC bank executive Meera Sanyal, Air Deccan founder G. R. Gopinath and former Infosys senior executive V. Balakrishnan who have recently joined the party. Clearly, the party seems to have just begun.