FEPS Rue Montoyer 40 B-1000 Brussels +32 2 234 69 00 | www.feps-europe.eu AAM AADMI PARTY (AAP) A NEW POLITICAL PARTY IN INDIA New Delhi, 22 nd January 2013 Klaus Voll and Kamakshi Nanda For further information please contact Ernst STETTER, FEPS Secretary General at ernst.stetter@feps- europe.eu or David KITCHING, FEPS Policy Advisor at [email protected]
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5. What do you foresee to be the major challenges and weaknesses of your movement?
Our entry into electoral politics is aimed at demolishing deep rooted evils of corruption, power
politics, complacence and collusion with business interests. Shaking up the indifference and apathy of
the political class from their slumber might appear as treading a difficult terrain but the commitment
and devotion of the movement is unflinching.
6. Would you say that the Aam Aadmi Party is social activism meet politics?
The Aam Aadmi Party represents the responsibility of participation that a democracy should instil and
highlights the need for civic engagement. In that way it is indeed social activism converging with
electoral politics.
7. What distinguishes the Aam Aadmi Party from other political parties? Please do elaborate on
the alleged ‘alternative’ element of your party.
The Aam Aadmi Party has taken certain crucial initiatives to distance itself from the prevailing
political culture of clamouring for power and has undertaken certain bold steps in this regard. It has
adopted a principled position of denying tickets to persons with criminal records or to more than one
member of a family for elections, and resists a central high command culture or structure within the
party. Luxury bungalows, red beacon on cars or special security for MPs and MLAs are shunned. We
have committed ourselves to full disclosure of funding and enactment of a robust Lok Pal Bill, the
Right to Recall and the Right to Rejection.
8. In your world view does European history offer anything of interest to you? For instance you
refer to the Swiss model of citizens’ participation in decision making. Do you think such a model
can be transplanted to India? How feasible would it be, given the multitude and diversity that
forms the Indian population?
Different societies across the globe and in different periods of history have devised and
implemented different models of peoples’ participation to learn from. Though the Swiss economist
Robert Nef calls it an “ongoing experiment” rather than an established model, the Swiss path of
decentralization, devolution of powers, etc likening it to a ‘direct democracy’, is certainly a hallmark
of participatory government in today’s time. Our movement emerged in a backdrop of a global
reassertion of citizens’ rights and the need for popular participation and representation, pioneered by
the Arab Spring. Since India’s rise to eminence at the global arena cannot be seen as a
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phenomenon in isolation, the acknowledgement that alternatives exist is important for keeping a
check on people holding the reins of power. The need to study and debate upon alternative models
such as referendum, alternative voting etc is important and the Aam Aadmi Party has committed
itself to certain progressive devises such as the Right to Recall legislators if they are ineffective or
unresponsive to their constituencies, also to the Right to Reject all the candidates on the electoral
list. The IAC movement can be seen as an innovation and achievement in this regard since it strives to
reinforce the vibrancy of our democracy.
9. Are there other ideological strains that appeal to you and the movement as a whole? What and
on which terms is Aam Aadmi Party seeking to create its own unique ideology?
India has had a vibrant history of social and civil society movements such as the Chipko, anti-dowry
and other aspects of women’s movements, the Narmada Bachao Andolan etc., which have
significantly voiced peoples’ concerns. The Aam Aadmi Party aims to bring these to the ambit of
electoral politics to directly enhance a people-friendly policy-making. Many of the activists associated
with our cause such as Medha Patkar have devoted themselves to fight against policies and practices
of injustice and inequality. Our movement and ideology encompass these concerns.
10. What immediate steps do you envisage for your movement? What is the ‘game plan’ and
strategy?
The movement has transformed itself into a political party and we are entering electoral politics
because of the prolonged inaction and lack of commitment of the governing and opposition parties to
the cause of the people. Our faith in the great institutions of India’s democracy is reaffirmed
through this struggle since we seek to usher in the much desired and needed changes through the
institution of the Parliament and peoples’ mandate (elections).
11. Would you describe your dreams about the transformations that you wish to bring about in the
next 10 or 20 years in India. Will it be a more all-inclusive society without class and caste
distinctions and religious intolerance? Do you envisage that through your drive and determined
action towards transparency in India, a new era of better governance and social progress will
emerge?
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In a Parliamentary model of a representative multi-party democracy it is essential that the legislature
responds to the needs of the people by incorporating their voices in the decision-making process.
However, the functioning of the existing parties running a nexus with corporate houses has been
ridden with dynastic succession and absence of internal democracy which make legislators (MPs and
MLAs) unresponsive to their constituencies once voted to power. The Aam Aamdi Party endeavours to
provide a corrective to this. The vision is to build an inclusive society, polity and
economy where inequality, apathy and indifference are transformed into engagement and social
justice.
3.Portrait: Shazia Ilmi, Member of Aam Aadmi Party
Charismatic journalist Shazia Ilmi is an established Television prime time anchor who took a plunge
into activism a year ago. She joined the movement which captured the imagination of the Indian
lower and middle classes alike – India Against Corruption in 2011. She has become the Muslim,
urbane, media-savvy face of the Aam Aadmi Party (led by former civil servant officer Arvind Kejriwal).
She was born into to a middle class but politically connected Muslim family in Kanpur in 1970. She is
an alumnus of St. Mary’s in Kanpur and pursued graduation studies from St. Bede’s in the former
summer capital of the British Raj – Shimla. She subsequently did mass communication from Jamia
Millia Islamia in Delhi in 1994, got a diploma in broadcast journalism from the University of Wales in
Cardiff and topped off her university education with a course in 16mm Film production from the
New York Film Academy, USA.
Her journey as an independent working woman was not an easy one. It was through her
relentless efforts and grit determination that she entered into the high visibility electronic
media field, bravely countered gender bias and conservative elements all her life to become
the first woman from her family to work.
She is the youngest of the family of four brothers and two sisters, and was expected to marry to
‘settle down’ or become an IAS officer. Life though took a different course as Shazia was inspired by
her father, founder-editor of the oldest and largest-selling Urdu daily from Kanpur, Siyasat Jadid.
Marry she did, to invest banker Sajid Mallik, but not without carving out a niche for herself in the
competitive world of media. In addition she became an adjunct faculty member of the School of
Media and Communication at Pondicherry University, where she conducts workshops on Television
Production and Broadcast Journalism.
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Shazia’s professional journey under the public eye as a journalist lasted for fifteen years. She proved
her mettle in both television news and Documentary Production. As Anchor-Producer in, one of
India’s largest media houses, Star Network’s News channel she hosted and produced the popular
prime time news show “Desh Videsh”.
Her current affairs shows and documentaries focusing on gender issues and rights of Indian minority
groups catapulted her into the echelon of established journalists. Her show “Dr Kans” featuring a
sting operation on doctors involved in the practice of female feticide resulted in the suspension of
their medical licenses - a first in India’s medical history. Her exclusive interview on Star News
Network with Arun Jadhav, a police constable wounded in the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008,
provided crucial information on the operational details of the assault including the killing of three
senior police officers.
Shazia has a number of films to her credit. These include a film on an Urdu Newspaper “Post Box No
418” (2010) which was screened at several film festivals all over India. She directed “Daughter of the
Earth” (2005) - a film on the prominent eco-feminist Vandana Shiva and her work on aquaculture in
coastal Tamil Nadu. (It was part of a series on Women & the Environment that was produced for the
Beijing Social Summit, financed by UNESCO and was nominated for the International Film Festival in
London). “Daughter of the Earth’” was telecasted world-wide by the Discovery Channel on the World
Environment day in 2009. Her other film “The Stolen Harvest” was a documentary based on Vandana
Shiva’s book on Food Security and Seed Patenting under the World Trade Organization. She is also
said to have directed the first ever television series for DD. It was an international production with an
all women crew titled “Women at Work”. Thus it comes as no surprise that Shazia is also a member
of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT).3
After nearly two decades of journalistic work she admittedly contracted the prevalent malady among
Indian journalists – the crisis of purpose. “I was done with mouthing insanities night after night.” She
found her true calling in 2011. That year veteran social activist Anna Hazare led a fast unto death for
the realization of an anti-corruption bill (to institute an Ombudsman popularly known as Lokpal). She
proffered her expertise to Anna Hazare’s team at Jantar Mantar on the very first day of his fast and
Arvind Kejriwal quickly co-opted her into Team Anna. She became a vociferous spokesperson for the
then ‘India Against Corruption’ movement. Her invaluable experience in handling the media came in
handy, as the movement remained in the limelight through the tides of waning and waxing news
3 IAWRT is a non-governmental organization that enjoys consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It organizes India’s only annual Women’s Film Festival in the capital, New Delhi.
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cycle. When the movement took a political turn in 2012, Shazia Ilmi, nimbly reincarnated herself as
the party’s spokesperson.
Shazia Ilmi is not alien to the political world. As a keen reporter she gave detailed accounts of the
elections in Bihar and Maharashtra for a program titled ‘Maratha Express’ in 2005. Her knowledge
also stems through her family’s close ties with the Congress. Her father counted Raj Narain (politician
from the Janata Party) and Kaifi Azmi (Urdu poet) as his friends who paid frequent visits to their
house in Kanpur. Ex-Congress Cabinet Minister Arif Mohammed Khan is her brother-in-law. A male
family member has been a Minister and Member of the Legislative Assembly for more than two
decades.
The new party will benefit hugely from Shazia’s insider’s perspective and know-how on the workings
of the news world. Editors and decision makers in TV newsrooms are familiar to her as friends or
former co-workers. She could use her previous turf with Delhi’s media and political class to her
party’s advantage. “I understand how the system works. And I know the media well. I have seen all
the power broking and the wheeling-dealing,” she had said in connection with Anna Hazare’s
movement.
Moreover two key members of the new party have been drawn in some controversy – Arvind
Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan. Shazia is blemish free and is thus not vulnerable to personal attacks.
Her previous work on Muslims issues will stand her party in good stead.
The spirited lady is all set to build her career in politics. It would be interesting to observe her
contributions to the Indian political scene.
5. PORTRAIT: ARVIND KEJRIWAL, FOUNDER OF AAM AADMI PARTY
This Ramon Magsaysay Award winner 2006 is a former Indian civil servant who gave up his plush
public service to become a social activist. He is now the founder and mentor of the new political
party – Aam Aadmi Party.
Born on 16th of August 1968 in Hissar in the province of Haryana, Kejriwal comes from a middle class
background. He grew up in small north Indian towns of Sonepat, Mathura and Hissar. The son of an
engineer, Kejriwal followed his father’s footsteps by graduating in B. Tech. in Mechanical Engineering
from IIT Kharagpur in 1989.
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Fresh out of IIT he started his professional career with Tata Steel. He moved tracks by quitting Tata
Steel for working with organisations such as Mother Theresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, the
Ramakrishnan Mission and Nehru Yuva Kendra. He successfully passed the prestigious and difficult
Indian Civil Service Exam to get a job with the Indian Revenue Service in 1992. After more than a
decade of public service he took voluntary retirement. His last official posting was that of Joint
Commissioner in the Income Tax Department.
He founded his own non-governmental organisation called ‘Parivartan’. Headquartered at Delhi this
citizen’s group main focus was to secure just and fair, transparent and accountable governance.
Kejriwal collaborated with Manish Sisodhia and Abhinandan Sekhri to launch a Public Cause Research
Foundation which concentrated on improving local self-governance and Right to Information
Campaigns. Kejriwal joined forces with the famed Aruna Roy to strengthen the campaign for the
Right to Information Act. The combined efforts bore fruit first in 2001 when the Delhi chapter of the
Right to Information Act came into being and at the national level in 2005. Since then Kejriwal has
repeatedly used the RTI to expose corruption in government bodies.
Eager and determined to book people responsible for corruption, Kejriwal realised that an effective
anti-corruption law was desperately needed in the country. His thoughts were echoed by others
including Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan, Santosh Hedge and Kiran Bedi. They together drafted
the Jan Lokpal Bill which was widely circulated to get their feedback. Anna Hazare became the face of
the movement called ‘India Against Corruption’, while Kejriwal became its chief architect. After more
than a year of holding fasts, meetings with civil society members and government representatives,
courting arrests, Kejriwal came to the conclusion that a strong Lokpal Bill was possible only if political
will truly existed in India. Thus he founded the Aam Aadmi Party. He now intends to participate in the
general elections in 2014 so as to occupy seats in the Indian Parliament to oversee the passing of the
needed Bill.
He lives in Ghaziabad with his wife and two children. He met his wife while training for the civil
services in Mussoorie. She is a government servant working as Additional Director in the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs.
Kejriwal recently published a book in titled ‘Swaraj’ last summer in 2012.