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from India Insight:
Kejriwal’s party gears up for Delhi polls with election reforms
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters)
The Aam Aadmi Party (common man’s party), led by bureaucrat-turned-activist Arvind Kejriwal, is gearing up for state-level polls in Delhi this year with an array of candidates chosen for their honesty.
Kejriwal’s election plank is to cleanse India of corrupt politicians and bring more transparency to government. With graft scandals embarrassing the ruling Congress and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Aam Aadmi Party is taking a more grassroots approach to the problem: weed out the bad ones before they become candidates.
Anyone can hope to be a election candidate for the party if they are endorsed by 100 potential voters from the constituency they hope to represent. Political analysts say that’s not too difficult but makes the process more transparent.
Among those who have applied so far are a labourer, a riot victim and a former soldier who fought gunmen during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
from India Insight:
Snapshots from Arvind Kejriwal’s hunger strike in Delhi
"Ankush, should we pay the electricity bill? The secretary of our apartments has advised us against it." That was my mother's question to me as I was leaving for Arvind Kejriwal's fast venue in Delhi's northeast corner, Dilshad Garden.
While I won't be among those who refuse to pay electricity bills, Kejriwal's supporters said hundreds of thousands of city residents had signed a pledge saying they would not pay their bills to the state.
from India Insight:
Corruption trumps reforms and economics in Kejriwal’s politics
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily of Thomson Reuters)
The transformation of Arvind Kejriwal from taxman to anti-corruption activist and politician has been hard to ignore. He became something of a celebrity last year when he launched broadsides against rich, powerful people. That in turn gave him a platform to enter politics with his "Aam Aadmi Party" (party of the common man). Now Kejriwal, 44, must build a party in time to contest state-level elections in New Delhi this year.
from India Insight:
Kejriwal names his party, now it’s agenda time
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Thomson Reuters)
Now that we know the name of India’s newest political party, launched by social activist Arvind Kejriwal, let's look at what else it might deal with aside from the annihilation of corruption.
from India Insight:
A user’s guide to India’s cabinet reshuffle
(Opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Thomson Reuters.)
In what is most likely the last cabinet reshuffle for the UPA-II government before the 2014 general elections, 22 ministers were sworn in at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Sunday.
from India Insight:
The novice Indian politician’s guide to drubbings, snubbings and shruggings
It was only a matter of time before activist Arvind Kejriwal and his anti-corruption movement got back some of what they gave.
After Kejriwal's flurry of allegations of wrongdoing by politicians and accusing the entire political class of working together as a “family” in looting the country, the family is striking back.
from India Insight:
Arvind Kejriwal: when lightning doesn’t strike thrice
(The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and represent his points of view only.)
Arvind Kejriwal's dud of an expose on Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nitin Gadkari has caused some people to wonder why the social activist made his allegations in the first place. Is he trying to clean up politics? Or is he trying to clean up votes?
from India Insight:
Kejriwal needs different approach to win hearts and votes
The Arvind Kejriwal-Robert Vadra faceoff has finally reached the place where it should be -- in court instead of in the press.
An activist named Nutan Thakur filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Allahabad High Court on Oct. 9, and it has now been admitted. The government must respond within three weeks. Thakur wants the court to explore allegations by social activist Kejriwal that Vadra, son-in-law of Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi, has been involved in shady land deals.
from India Insight:
The news this weekend: LPG, Kejriwal, toilets, politicians… and Somali pirates
It's shaping up as a busy weekend for India's politicians...
The price of LPG -- liquefied petroleum gas cylinders, or cooking gas -- has risen 11.42 rupees per cylinder because dealers are getting higher commissions. TV channels attacked the government because this "shocker" comes right after the imposition of a cap on subsidized cylinder sales was imposed.
Bharatiya Janata Party politician Smriti Irani said the party will hold a nation-wide protest on Oct. 12, saying the higher prices are “anti-women”. This is presumably because they do more of the daily cooking than men, whose potential inversely proportional waistline shrinkage could be in their favour.
from India Insight:
Kejriwal 2.0 not enough to change India’s political landscape
It wasn’t long ago that social activist Arvind Kejriwal called India’s parliamentarians "rapists, murderers and looters". After making no bones about his hatred for India’s politicians during his anti-corruption movement, the former Team Anna member may soon be breaking bread and rubbing shoulders with the targets of his scorn now that he has decided to enter politics.
Kejriwal's first test could be the assembly elections in Delhi next year. Will his rhetoric translate into votes? Will his party succeed in overthrowing a state government that has been in power for nearly 15 years in the capital? (Please participate in our poll on Arvind Kejriwal. Our question: will his new party be able to make a political impact? At the moment, "yes" votes outnumber "no" votes by nearly two to one.)
