Delhi Musings: Did you win a dinner with AK?

We are living through times where the axiom ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ seems to be the only way to describe conduct of our elected representatives. The manner in which these power-hungry people camouflage their greed as their ‘desire to serve people’ is astonishing and manifestation of the lowest levels of morality.

Political greed, in any case, is a bottomless pit. All this becomes even more obnoxious when political leaders start manipulating voters and make them tools of their campaign.

When our man AK requested people of Delhi to make videos and share them with their friends and relatives in the five states which went to elections recently, he was manipulating voters. All this nudging and cajoling of Dilliwallahs was directed towards influencing folks in those states to vote for his party. He prodded them to talk about what they like about the work done by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi. They were then asked to appeal to their friends and relatives to vote for his party in their respective states.

Call it self-flattery or surrogate propaganda, it’s being achieved by using Dilliwallahs as guinea pigs. Blasphemous– yes! For flattery corrupts the receiver as well as the giver. But then who cares? Not our man AK in this avatar of a power-hungry vote seeker. (A now retired star residing in Mumbai, who takes no interest in her state’s politics, suddenly posted that she had learnt that there was a wave in favour of AAP. Knowledgeable people were quick to spot similar posts by others repeating the message word-by-word. Apparently, there are agencies to handle the job and depending upon celebrity status, the posts fetch handsome payments too).

We now know how Delhi BJP is using its volunteers in 35-odd WhatsApp groups with 254 members each for the forthcoming municipal elections. We are also aware of how these groups are fed with messaging that further gets amplified by each of the volunteers on groups of their own. Our man AK has attempted to copy this template.

AAP volunteers under this programme were to make the videos go viral. And there was an incentive on offer. Videos that went viral would entitle the creator to be a part of a select group of 50 such creators for dinner with AK after the elections. So now to meet the chief minister of a party that claims to be there for the common man, the same common man had to first find something good about the way AK runs Delhi, make it viral, amplify the message sufficiently to merit a personal sitdown dinner with the CM.

One is tempted to get into crystal-ball gazing to figure out what the setting of this dinner meet would be. It will certainly not be a five-star hotel banquet or restaurant out of bounds of the ‘aam aadmi’. It cannot be the official residence of the CM for that cannot, and should not, be used for a party event. It cannot be the AAP HQ for that will not suffice as an incentive at all. After all, knowing AK, he would want to use this trick for other state elections as well and India has 28 states and 9 Union Territories with our man lusting to contest in most of them eventually!

He can’t fly the winners to Singapore either for while the 50 guests may get a visa, it is unlikely that AK will get it, thanks to the comment he made on Singapore’s role in spreading the virus in India. That leaves us with eateries that are in places that are frequented by the middle class, lest folks call the dinner ‘elitist’. It therefore rules out the eateries at Aero City, Hauz Khas, Khan Market, South Delhi, Rajouri and Connaught Place – these being too trendy for the man who projected himself to be a person rooted in middle class values, habits and demeanour (remember that muffler and the WagonR!). So, he just might take them to Punjab and treat them to some rich Dhaba food? Gosh! The man needs empathy. And so do the 50 diners!

(The writer blogs at stateofdelhi.in)

(This was first published in National Herald on Sunday)