JOIN USAt the strike of half past seven on a cold winter night, people gathered at Chittaranjan Park Market 2--not for a usual stroll in the market over the weekend, but to take a significant decision for the Capital. Huddled around the newly-elected MLA, Saurabh Bhardwaj, from Greater Kailash constituency, the assembled gathering patiently heard the 18 points listed in a letter from Arvind Kejriwal before raising their hands to show support or reject the decision to form a Government with an outside support from Congress.
As Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stands at the threshold of forming the next Government, the run-up to the D-Day comprised online polls and a series of 280 jan sabhas in every nook and corner of the city to seek a referendum on whether AAP should step in the corridors of power or not. The party now gears up to form the Government on the basis of a surge of public support expressed through SMS’s, internet polls and jan sabhas. Metrolife spoke to youngsters to get their perspective on this referendum.
Twenty eight-year-old Karan Ahuja vehemently raises his hand to reject the referendum in a jan sabha. Ask him why and the young chartered accountant says, “I came here because my father is an ardent AAP supporter. Apparently, it seems AAP has put in a lot of its resources in these elections, so they don’t want a re-election, that’s why they are judging people’s mood on the basis of a mere show of hands. How flawless is this referendum, all of us can gauge.”
To counter him, Gaganpreet Kaur, a PhD scholar at Delhi University says, “AAP is passionate about its agendas. At least they tried to get a sense of public opinion over their moves. Even they sound sceptical about forming a Government with support from any other party. I think holding these last minute meetings was a cautious move, but it’s only in the interest of the general public.”
A young hardware consultant Arnav stood at the periphery to observe the ongoing proceedings at the jan sabha. When asked about his take, he said, “I just wished to know what was happening in these meetings; are these leaders in league with the people of the country or not?” Visibly disappointed, he says, “It was a haphazard arrangement; I couldn’t even ask a question after the party leader read out the contents of the letter. But in my opinion, corruption is not going to end on the basis of which party comes to power. Till everyone does not have a unique identity card and it is not linked to our monetary actions, you cannot monitor the flow of currency transparently,” he adds emphasising the role of UID cards for good governance.
With AAP on the verge of taking over the reins of the Capital, one can only hope that its jan sabhas were a true reflection of public opinion.