Yogendra Yadav, academic and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)leader, has said the Indian democracy is going through a time of despair, which also provides a window of opportunity to evolve a new brand of alternative politics.
He was delivering the Narendran memorial lecture at the Press Club here on Thursday. “The overwhelming majority achieved by the BJP in these elections is something that every Indian should be concerned about. Narendra Modi is a person whose politics is opposed to the three pillars of the idea of India – democracy, diversity and development – for even the last person. But this moment of despair provides a possibility of political realignment, in terms of the voters’ choice,” Mr. Yadav said.
He said that one of the recent positive developments is the infusion of renewed political energy in the past two years, with several youth taking up politics, after leaving their lucrative professions. This is a shift from the initial strain of ‘anti-politics’ which took hold of the anti-corruption movement, he said.
Different visionMr. Yadav said that alternative politics does not mean alternatives to politics or political alternatives. “This new politics should offer a vision to the country, different from that established by the existing parties. It also requires a strong organisational vehicle. Also, a new political culture needs to be evolved, different from the standard image of the inaccessible and irresponsible politician. At the same time, this brand of politics should be viable, as it is one problem many of the people’s movements which wanted to participate in politics faced.”
He said that such a movement should not repeat the mistakes of transformative politics of the 20th century by starting with a scripted roadmap.
