After igniting a political row, AAP chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal finally wrote his much-awaited letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing his request to include the pictures of Hindu god Ganesh and goddess Laxmi in Indian currency notes.
This, Kejriwal believes, will bring prosperity to the ‘suffering Indian economy’, when combined with the hard work of the junta. Laxmi and Ganesh are figures central to the prayers for prosperity and material gain in Hindu worship.
But what is the true purpose behind the demand? The political grapevine is abuzz with speculations – and most believe it is to help AAP attract voters with a more Hindutva pitch amid the upcoming Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.
AAP, which won Punjab this year, is eager to become the principal opposition party against the BJP and gain ground in the states up for the crucial vote. But in doing so, it seems more interested in attracting the BJP vote base than appealing to those who may vote for the Congress, said a report by India Today.
However, this move, argues the report, comes with its caveats. There has been this dichotomy in the attitude of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. For example, they demanded more powers in Delhi but supported the Centre’s move to reduce the state of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory and bring it under central rule because they did not want to antagonise a certain section of voters.”
Senior political journalist Iftikhar Gilani pointed out the dichotomy in the attitude of Kejriwal and AAP. He told India Today that the party, with its differing stand on issues (such as support for the Centre’s J&K approach) may be so to not antagonise a certain section of voters.
But this would leave the party ‘neither here or there’. The report further states that AAP may lose part of what it already has, as voters who come to it from the Congress may feel disenchanted with the issues it is raising. And on the other hand, the two-fold path may also not necessarily shift the BJP voter. “Why will too many people settle for a Babul Supriyo or even a Kumar Sanu when they can have a Kishore Kumar?” it argues.
And expectedly, Kejriwal’s push was met with mostly negative responses, from those who expressed dismay with the ‘unconstitutionality’ of the demand to its ‘non-serious’ nature. This included criticism from famous personalities including music composer Vishal Dadlani – who has backed AAP on previous occasions.
There is also a case for the dilution of the AAP’s demands amid its shifting stance. After Kejriwal’s Laxmi-Ganesh request, a number of leaders – from Shiv Sena to BJP – came up with their own versions of currency, with leaders that they revered.
BJP leader Ram Kadam wanted notes with images of Savarkar, BR Ambedkar and more, and Shiv Sena made a prototype for a ‘Shivaji’ note.
In such a case, the AAP’s demand may not be taken as seriously as wanted by the party, and no matter the intention.
Political experts have been questioning the AAP’s changing stances and it’s need to walk both paths – of an intellectual opponency to the BJP, while also institutionalising the vigour associated with saffron cadre.
An example of the same can come from the party choosing BR Ambedkar and martyr Bhagat Singh as its leading ideological figures. With Ambedkar the party has hoped to appeal to Dalits, and has on multiple occasions cited the fearlessness of Bhagat Singh living within its own workers – as a no-nonsense rebuttal to BJP.
However, Kejriwal’s party seemed to find it difficult to truly walk the talk, experts said. After the BJP objected to Rajendra Pal Gautam’s ‘conversion ceremony’, the Delhi Minister resigned, with the lack of an acknowledgement from the party brass. Some argued that what Gautam did was not unlikely for any Ambedkar follower.
But on the other hand, the party stood firmly behind Patel leader Gopal Italia, who was earlier dragged into controversy over his supposed remarks on PM Modi. This, argued a report by Indian Express, was a calculated move on Kejriwal’s part ahead of the Gujarat polls, with the Patels having been a shifting votebank in the state.
Now, it remains to be seen what fruit Kejriwal’s demand will yield for the party, if not for Indian economy itself.
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