AAP sweeps Delhi, but Lok Satta Party remains unnoticed

CHENNAI: While Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has made a comeback in Delhi by winning 67 assembly seats by projecting anti-corruption as its main agenda, Lok Satta Party which had begun to advocate the same cause much before the AAP came into existence remains unnoticed and fighting for its relevance.
The ultimate aim of both the parties is to eradicate corruption and bring in more transparency in governance.Apart from the common cause, there is another similarity between the two parties - both are founded by former bureaucrats.
While AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is a former Indian Revenue Service officer, LSP is led by former IAS officer Jayaprakash Narayan. However, their fortunes have been vastly different.
The nine-year-old Lok Satta has neither an MP nor an MLA.
Narayan had represented Kukatpally constituency in the Andhra Pradesh assembly. In the May 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from Malkajgiri and lost to TDP candidate Ch Malla Reddy.
AAP, formed in November 2012, won 67 seats in the Delhi assembly polls and has a presence across the country. While AAP's symbol is a broom, which symbolizes clean politics, LSP's is a whistle, which denotes whistle blowers.
In a statement on Tuesday, Narayan said: “Congrats to AAP for its spirited campaign and decisive victory. Delhi verdict shows voters are fed up with politics as usual. AAP's focus on anti-corruption, clean elections, civic amenities and local governance are in right direction and people endorsed it.”
However, he said AAP is a flawed champion of new politics. “Its stridency, anarchic anti-institutionalism, freebies and reckless populism are troubling,” he said.
Anti-corruption activists say they are upset as these two anti-corruption parties are fighting each other even though they have similar ideologies.
“AAP has a strong presence in north India while Lok Satta Party has several volunteers in southern states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. They should ideally work together for a common cause without any ego,” said an activist.
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