JEDDAH – Many senior Indian politicians view the spectacular political debut of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leader Arvind Kejriwal as a déjà vu moment, and not as a new phenomenon. Some have called the rise of AAP a flash in the pan and just a blip on the political radar. “It's a temporary phenomenon,” said a senior Indian minister. “Such movements against corruption have taken place in the past as well,” Indian Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Tariq Anwar told Saudi Gazette, recalling the JP movement of the 70s and the V.P. Singh movement of the late 80s. However, Anwar, who was here to perform Umrah, feels that Kejriwal will dent the prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The setback for BJP in Delhi has sent ripples across India, he says. Kejriwal has checked the juggernaut of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, according to Anwar, who feels that the Congress party should not declare its cards and announce a prime ministerial candidate, which most obviously will be Rahul Gandhi. If the party wins, well and good, but a defeat will tarnish the career of Rahul Gandhi, says Anwar. As the election scene in India heats up and as political parties of various hues get down to the business of seat-sharing and political adjustments, Muslims as usual are looking for straws in the wind. On one side is the Hindu-chauvinist Modi, and on the other are trust-betrayers like the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav. “Muslims have no option but to support secular forces,” says Anwar, who is the general secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Muslims can play the role of kingmaker, he says. Anwar, who is one of the few prominent national faces of the 180-million-strong Muslim community in India, feels that there is no scope for a separate political identity for Indian Muslims. “If secularism weakens in India, it will be Muslims who will be the worst affected,” says Anwar, advising his community members to strive to save and strengthen secularism. He has harsh words for those who betray the trust of Muslims like Akhilesh Yadav, who came to power in Uttar Pradesh with massive Muslim support. The Akhilesh government not only failed to protect Muslims from communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and turned a blind eye to the plight of those displaced by the riots, but it rubbed salt in their wounds by demolishing the camps of the displaced. “What happened in Muzaffarnagar is very sad,” said Anwar, adding that Mulayam Singh Yadav will pay a heavy price for this in the coming parliamentary elections. Anwar, whose party is in alliance with the ruling Congress at the national level and in the state of Maharashtra, feels that Modi's anointment as BJP's prime ministerial candidate will isolate the Hindu party and its old allies will desert it. This will benefit the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), he thinks.
