Aam Aadmi Party

Aam Aadmi Party

Aam Aadmi Party

Leader Founded Headquarters Ideology

Arvind Kejriwal 26 November 2012 Ground Floor, A-119, Kaushambi (NCR), Ghaziabad- 201010 Swaraj Anti-corruption Centre-left State party

Political position ECI Status Seats in LokSabha

0/545 Seats in RajyaSabha 0/245 Seats in Legislative Assembly 28/70 (Delhi Legislative Assembly) Website www.aamaadmiparty.org Politics of India Political parties Elections [1]

Aam Aadmi Party (translation: Common Man Party; abbreviated as AAP) is an Indian political party, formally launched on 26 November 2012. It came into existence following differences between the activists Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare regarding whether or not to politicise the popular India Against Corruption movement that had been demanding a Jan Lokpal Bill since 2011. Hazare preferred that the movement should remain politically unaligned while Kejriwal felt the failure of the agitation route necessitated a direct political involvement. The AAP has led several protests since its formation. Among these was a campaign against an alleged nexus between government and private corporations relating to price rises for electricity and water in Delhi. Another saw the party demanding justice for victims of sexual harassment and rape, including the introduction of a stronger anti-rape law. The party's first electoral test was in the 2013 Delhi legislative assembly election, from which it emerged as the second-largest party, winning 28 of the 70 seats. With no party obtaining an overall majority, the AAP formed a minority government with conditional support from the Indian National Congress.

Aam Aadmi Party

Background
The origin of the AAP can be traced to a difference of opinion between Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare, social activists who had both been involved in Team Anna, a strand of the anti-corruption movement for Jan Lokpal Bill that had gained momentum in India during 2011 and 2012. Hazare had wanted to keep the movement politically neutral but Kejriwal considered that direct involvement in politics was necessary because attempts to obtain progress regarding the Jan Lokpal Bill through talks with existing political parties had, in his opinion, achieved nothing. A survey conducted by the India Against Corruption organisation using social networking services had indicated that there was wide support for politicisation. Hazare and Kejriwal agreed on 19 September 2012 that their differences regarding a role in politics were irreconcilable. Kejriwal had support from some anti-corruption movement activists, such as Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan, but was opposed by others such as Kiran Bedi and Santosh Hegde. On 2 October, Kejriwal announced that he was forming a political party and that he intended the formal launch to be on 26 November, coinciding with the anniversary of India's adoption of its constitution in 1949. The party's name reflects the phrase Aam Aadmi, or "common man", whose interests Kejriwal proposed to represent. A party constitution was adopted on 24 November 2012, when a National Council comprising 320 people and a National Executive of 23 were also formed. Both the Council and the Executive were expected to have more members in due course, with the intention being that all districts and all classes of people would have a voice. Various committees were to be formed to draft proposals for adoption by the party in a process that was expected to take several months. Although one aim was to limit nepotism, there were complaints at this initial meeting that the selection of people invited to attend was itself an example of such practices The party was formally launched in Delhi on 26 November and in March 2013 it was registered as a political party by the Election Commission of India.[2]</ref>

Ideology and issues

The AAP says that the promise of equality and justice that forms a part of the constitution of India and of its preamble has not been fulfilled and that the independence of India has replaced enslavement to an oppressive foreign power with that to a political elite. The party claims that the common people of India remain unheard and unseen except when it suits the politicians. It wants to reverse the way that the accountability of government operates and has taken an interpretation of the Gandhian concept of swaraj as a tenet. It believes that through swaraj the government will be directly accountable to the people instead of higher officials. The swaraj model lays stress on self governance, community building and decentralisation. Kejriwal has said that the AAP refuses to be guided by ideologies and that they are entering politics to change the system: "We are aam aadmis. If we find our solution in the left we are happy to borrow it from there. If we find our solution in the right, we are happy to borrow it from there." In early 2014, there was some media speculation that an alliance might form between the AAP and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM). Prakash Karat, the CPIM leader, thought that there were some ideological similarities between the two parties, such as their agendas relating to social justice and decentralisation of power. The AAP's Prashant Bhushan explicitly refuted any joining of forces, claiming that there was corruption within the CPIM. A columnist, T. C. A. Srinivasa Raghavan, has said that AAP is right-wing when it comes to morality and left-wing when it comes to economics.

Aam Aadmi Party

Agenda
As of November 2013[3], the AAP is proposing to introduce four primary policies: Jan Lokpal legislation Right to Reject[4] whereas the AAP's RTR concept is intended to allow a situation whereby if sufficient people vote to reject then the election is voided and a new election would be held.</ref> Right to Recall Political decentralisation

Awareness campaigns
The party has conducted public awareness campaigns to educate people about "right to reject" and requested Election Commissions of certain States to allow voters to exercise their right to reject in electronic voting machines.

Support
On 26 November 2012, the formal launch day of the AAP, the former law minister, Shanti Bhushan, donated million (US$160,000). Prashant Bhushan, his son, is a member of the party's National Executive Committee. 10

On 18 May 2013, a group of Indian-Americans from 20 different cities in the USA held a convention in Chicago and extended support to the AAP. The convention was attended by two AAP leaders, Kumar Vishwas and Yogendra Yadav, and Kejriwal addressed it via video conferencing. Aruna Roy and Medha Patkar, who had differences with Kejriwal on certain issues, supported him after his 15-day fast against inflated electricity bills. On 22 March 2014, the Janata Dal (Secular) party of Delhi announced it would merge with the Aam Aadmi Party, citing Arvind Kejriwal's tenure as Chief Minister of Delhi.

Protests
On 23 March 2013, Kejriwal began an indefinite fast in an attempt to mobilize people against inflated power and electricity bills at a house in Sundar Nagri, a low-income group resettlement colony in North-East Delhi. During the protest he urged Delhi citizens not to pay the "inflated" water and electricity bills. The AAP also demanded an audit of power and electricity supply in Delhi by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India also supported by Civil Society Groups like National Alliance of Peoples Movement (NAPM). The AAP claimed that the protest gathered support from 100,000 people in Delhi on a single day and from more than 300,000 people up to 28 March 2013. Anna Hazare urged Kejriwal to end the fast and he did so on 6 April. On 10 June 2013, Kejriwal supported the agitation by Delhi auto rickshaw drivers, who were protesting the Delhi government's ban on advertisements on auto rickshaws. Kejriwal claimed the government's ban was because the drivers supported his party and carried AAP's advertisements on their vehicles. He said that the AAP would put 10,000 advertisements on auto rickshaws as a protest. In retrospect, after Kejriwal had been elected and then resigned his position, a union representing the drivers expressed dissatisfaction saying "Arvind Kejriwal, who had won the elections because of the support of the auto drivers, has betrayed them by not fulfilling any of the promises made before the elections".

Aam Aadmi Party

Elections
Delhi Assembly election, 2013
The 2013 Delhi state assembly elections were the party's first electoral contest. The Election Commission approved the symbol of a "broom" for use by the AAP in that campaign. The party said that its candidates were honest and had been screened for potential criminal backgrounds. The AAP published its central manifesto on 20 November 2013, promising to implement the Jan Lokpal Bill within 15 days of coming to power. In November 2013, a sting operation conducted by Media Sarkar, alleged that several leaders of AAP, including Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi had agreed to extend their support to some people seeking assistance with land deals and other financial arrangements in return for donations in cash to AAP. Ilmi offered to withdraw her candidature as a result but the party refused to accept her offer, describing the footage as fabricated and a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The Election Commission ordered an inquiry regarding the legitimacy of the video. AAP emerged as the second-largest party in Delhi winning 28 of the 70 Assembly seats; the Bharatiya Janata Party as the single-largest party won 31 while its ally SAD won 1, Indian National Congress won 8 and two were won by others.[5] On 28 December 2013, the AAP formed a minority government in the hung Assembly, with what Sheila Dikshit describes as "not unconditional" support from Indian National Congress. Arvind Kejriwal became the second-youngest Chief Minister of Delhi.

General election, 2014

The party intends to contest over 300 seats in the Indian general election, 2014, including all those in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It has recognised that its support is based primarily in urban areas and that different strategies may be required for regions such as Uttar Pradesh where caste-based politics are the norm. Since 16 February 2014. it has released a series of ten candidate lists, with a total of 322 candidates.

Government of Delhi
After coming to power in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal announced reduction in electricity bills for up to 400 units, driven by subsidy. He also ordered an audit of power distribution companies. The AAP government also announced that the homes with metered connections will receive 20 kilolitres of free water per month, but will have to pay 10 per cent more if they exceed that limit. The government scrapped Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail, thus preventing development by international businesses such as Tesco and Walmart. It established an anti-graft helpline for the citizens to report corrupt officials. The government's plan to conduct Janata Durbars (public hearings with ministers) were abandoned due to mismanagement. Vinod Kumar Binny, an AAP Member of the Legislative Assembly was expelled after rebelling against the party. On 20 January 2014, Kejriwal and his ministers staged protests at Rail Bhavan against the Union Government Home Ministry. These came after his Law Minister, Somnath Bharti, had been dissatisfied with the response from the Delhi police to allegations relating to a neighbourhood popular with immigrants from Uganda and Nigeria. Kejriwal was demanding that the police should come under direct control of the Delhi government and that officers who had refused to do as Bharti had requested should be suspended. He said that the protest will not hamper his work as he had brought along files and would carry on working from the venue of the protest. He later claimed that it was the first time in Indian political history that a Chief Minister had protested on the streets to raise his Government's demands for a fair inquiry. After two days, he ended his fast when the Lieutenant Governor, Najeeb Jung, intervened by sending on leave two of the policemen involved and setting up a judicial enquiry. Also in January 2014, the party's office in Ghaziabad was attacked by right-wing activists protesting against Prashant Bhushan, who has expressed a personal opinion against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Jammu &

Aam Aadmi Party Kashmir by talking of a referendum in that state to decide whether the people want the army to handle internal security. This caused the AAP to determine that its significant members would in future refrain from expressing opinions on anything that was not agreed by a broad consensus within the party. Financial support for the party from non-resident Indians have halved while it has been in government, possibly reflecting disenchantment. It has also admitted that its systems may have significantly overstated members introduced through a nationwide recruitment campaign that was affected by hoaxers. In February 2014, the AAP tried to introduce the Jan Lokpal Bill - the most significant point of its agenda - in the Delhi Assembly, However, Jung said that tabling the bill without his agreement would be "unconstitutional" and advised the Assembly Speaker not to allow the tabling. The AAP government stated that it was following all the procedures, and tried to table the bill. When BJP and INC blocked the introduction of the bill, the AAP government resigned. Kejriwal alleged that there was a nexus among Congress, BJP and the industrialist Mukesh Ambani, and the two parties had "ganged up" against AAP after it filed an First Information Report against Ambani.

References
Notes
[1] http:/ / www. aamaadmiparty. org [2] The Election Commission of India gazetted the AAP as a "registered unrecognised party" on 9 April 2013.<ref> [3] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Aam_Aadmi_Party& action=edit [4] There is confusion in India between the terms "right to reject" (RTR) and "none of the above" (NOTA), with media sources frequently using them synonymously. The Supreme Court of India ruling in September 2013 that a NOTA option must be implemented does not affect the AAP agenda for RTR. Votes registered as NOTA will simply not count towards an election outcome,<ref> [5] Delhi polls |BJP ahead, AAP inches to second (http:/ / www. business-standard. com/ article/ politics/ delhi-polls-bjp-ahead-aap-inches-to-second-113120800100_1. html)

Citations

External links
Official website (http://www.aamaadmiparty.org/)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

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