It has been quite tough for me to get going with the new political party that I thought of launching after I quit Loksatta. Sometimes I feel guilty that I played into the hands of some people who had no serious interest in building a political party. Whatever they may have thought, I had to make my own decision. It is never a nice thing to hide once we choose to become politicians. It was the last thing that I expected of Lok Satta that they behave in unacceptable ways contrary to what is expected of them. There was absolutely no democracy. Now that I quit and decided to form a new party, many challenges are emerging. They are to be expected. I don’t want to make the mistake that Loksatta did – quitting politics half way and leaving it purposeless and directionless after showing lot of promise.
It has been a year since I received the first donation of Rupees One Thousand towards party formation. Another 18 thousands have been donated since then. A draft of the party constitution was also drafted in early June. It was all shaping up fine till my father passed away in an accident in July. It was just about when I was to start the party. I became almost clueless for at least 3 months. Now that I want to get going again, so many challenges are propping up.
- Obviously, the BJP is doing good at the Center. There is lot of political orientation towards BJP ever since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India.
- AAP is also shaping up well and has created waves despite all the criticisms.
- Being out of politics related work close to one year has also put me out of sync in politics.
- It is tough if you start thinking in both Spiritual and Political ways. Spirituality teaches that this world is a play of 3 days. Suddenly politics and everything else looks meaningless and of inferior nature.
- Despite all the BJP and AAP wave and the signs of India progressing fast, the electorate of India are awfully biased and prejudiced. Making inroads is nothing short of an herculean task.
- With all that getting people into the fold of a new political party in the making is still tougher. For most of our youngsters and even middle aged citizens, politics stops at voting and criticizing. It is very difficult for them to give time for politics due to their own reasons and commitments. We have to find people who are interested in transforming the way politics is done.
These are the challenges. But there is also hope. The very existence of criminals, and prejudiced voters calls for a new political party which supports non criminals and involves concerned citizens and works with prejudiced voters. But Political Party cannot be a one man or two men army. But a commitment has been made, and there is no going back. I have to find avenues and also prepare myself accordingly. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.
