Is Kejriwal here to say or will he, like Pierre Poujade, prove a flash in the crowded political pan of India with its myriad political parties, spectrum of ideologies and causes aplenty to espouse? There is little doubt that the man has raised the uncommon hopes of a cynical middle-class India that saw a rash of professionals leave secure corporate and establishment perches to climb his bandwagon in pursuit of what many altruistically thought was a political ideal worth pursuing for a better and caring India.
But many of his actions have raised serious questions about his ideology, methods, vision and, most important, world view. Is Kejriwal a reformer, an iconoclast or a tilter at windmills?
A visit to the Delhi Secretariat offers an interesting insight into a more transparent, accessible and non-formal style of governance run by people who appear sincere, are hard-working and seem committed to make a difference to the common people's lives. But are these virtues enough to remove the accumulated cobwebs of corruption and malfeasance that have corroded the system and eroded the faith of the average Indian in the political establishment and all that it stands for?
Only time will tell, but there is little doubt that if Kejriwal and his commoners are to blaze a new trail, they must broaden their intellectual horizons and outline their ideology so that the road map becomes clear, not just for their expanding party cadre but for millions of others in whom the AAP raised hopes of an alternate political discourse and offered a third choice for the people of India preparing to vote in a new parliament in three months' time.
