Arvind Kejriwal's AAProach to Political Change Mgmt

Arvind Kejriwal's AAProach to Political Change Mgmt 

Off late there have been innumerable articles written on Arvind Kejriwal and his so-called “bhagoda” act. The fact that his government at New Delhi chose to resign in just 49 days has drawn thousands of hours of TV discussions, criticisms or support.

This has caused the other political parties and the aam aadmi in general to cast aspersions on his integrity, his honesty and the very purpose of AAP. Every word that he says is now analyzed and scrutinized for signs of irrationality and immaturity.

In my opinion, it will be wrong to suspect his intention. However, he is indeed a man in rush. So much so, that he has forgotten the basics of political change management. When you are attempting large scale transformation, you have to go slow, be careful with the speed of change. The speed of change should be inversely proportional to the size of the group impacted by the change. A country as vast and diverse as India cannot be transformed overnight, as Kejriwal thought. A change in our culture of dynasty worship, corruption and chalta hai attitude doesn't happen in a few months. These are changes that would take at least a generation.

A better AAProach for political change management would have been to focus on Delhi in the immediate short term. And incrementally focus on 2 to 3 states that are awaiting elections this year or next. Getting into the national fray could have waited till 2019.

With the right intentions, AAP could have proved itself in a span of 3-5 years. People could have seen the difference they create in each state, reduction in corruption and some very visible development. Such positive actions would have helped in 2019 national elections.

AK wants to be the agent of change and doesn’t aspire to be PM, but in this case, his agility is going to kill the momentum.  

After all Rome was not built in a day.

Celebrate Modi, don’t just criticize him

Celebrate Modi, don’t just criticize him

Before you jump to conclusions, this blog is not a random praise of Narendra Modi. Neither does this extol you to vote blindly for him and his party.

Rags to riches story don’t happen every day. Agreed, Modi’s story is not a “rags to riches” story. His is a “plead to power” story. From pleading with his customers to buy tea to a man in power, and possibly set to become the PM of the country, Modi has traversed a long journey.  The road from plead to power is even more challenging, more difficult and crooked. You can become rich on your merits, but in a democracy you get to power by convincing others of your merits and establishing the trust and confidence of your supporters. Or, if you are a dynast, then, by being born in a particular family. Clearly, Modi belongs to the former category – none of his family members have ever been associated with politics.

Getting to power is like a race. Unfortunately, in this race, everyone doesn’t start from the very beginning. If you have strong political affiliations, you are planted near the end or at the end. But if you have to start from the very beginning with none to watch out for you, we have to credit the contender for their perseverance, hard work, dedication and laser- focus on the end goal.

In this race, all the contenders carry a bag-back which is used to gather experience on the way. The contenders planted near the end goal, hardly have time or ability to capture enough. But those who started from the beginning gather immense experience and learning and lessons learnt on the way. It makes them more wholesome in their abilities. The Modi of 2002 is different from the Modi of 2014. In 2012, we had a Modi with zero experience as an administrator. Come 2014 and we have an administrator with over 12 years of experience of running a government. Good experience can and should never be discounted. The Akhilesh Yadav of 2025 will be very different (read experienced) from the man we see today.

The race will end soon and winners and losers will be known to all. The winner will get all the credit; however, equal credit must also be given to organizers of the race. In this context, the democratic framework and citizens of India, who I believe are the biggest winners. While the BJP and Modi may or may not form the next government, it is a tremendous win for the country that a poor chai-walla Narendra today dreams to lead the country. Not only has he done something right to reach this position, but our fathers did us a great service to establish a framework where at least everyone can dream to race!

We can always find a reason to criticize the man, but be positive and celebrate the dreams of the man.