The intellectual in the drawing room had reached the conclusion, depending on affiliation, that AAP is BJP’s B team and Congress mole, says our humourist Soumya, in the weekly column, exclusively in Different Truths.

The phenomenal rise of the mango people party raised the skeptic’s eyebrows. No one believed them except the gullible mango people, whom everyone claims to represent and even name themselves after, be it Janta, Bharatiya Janta, or Grassroots (Trinamool). Democracy is supposed to be about them – of by and for the people. The left had copyrights to concern for them. So what is the big deal? Why do people suddenly start believing in them? Haven’t they learned their lessons? The Congress in the 50s, the Left in the 60s, JP movement in the 70s, AGP in the 80s, Grassroots in the 21st century, all came with promises of change, Naya Zamana, Sampoorna Kranti or Parivartan, none of which came to pass.

This is because the only thing the mango people have left is hope. Take it away and we go the way of lemmings. So we continue to place our faith in the next messiah, this time in a new avatar, dressed in muffler and topi.

The intellectual in the drawing room had reached the conclusion, depending on affiliation, that AAP is BJP’s B team and Congress mole. As it can’t be both simultaneously, let’s see what is likely.

During the agitation phase, while it was drumming up anti-government support, BJP loved it and Congress hated it. Irrespective of the ideology of the people who flocked to its call, it was in effect a blessing to BJP, no doubt receiving its blessings and overt and covert support. But the anger of the mango people made it swell so fast that it became an alternate focus of anti-incumbency sentiment. While it remained a protest movement, it helped the opposition cause, but when it decided to sully its hands and enter the dirty world of politics it became a major threat to BJP.

This thrilled the Congress as the opposition vote would get divided and an unpopular government could scrape through. So the blessings and support, covert and overt, came from the guys in power now. But once again, the degree of frustration was underestimated, and AAP decimated the party they were supposed to bring back to power, humiliating and defeating the popular CM as well. The only consolation of the ruling party was that it kept the arch-enemy from getting a clear majority.

Now, the drama thickens. New morality had such overwhelming voter support that no one could bank on public apathy and indulge in horse-trading to form a government. The unthinkable happened. A party just a few votes shy couldn’t form a government. The new kids on the block took power with Congress support, giving credence to BJP’s allegation of them being a Congress plant. Rumours of Kejriwal’s proximity to the first family and his preferential postings despite being a maverick resurfaced. So will the new guy just be a Congress stooge?

No way! Here we can look at Bollywood for an analogy. Remember Guide or Namakharam?

In Guide, a con man takes on the role of a Mahatma to dupe the mango people of a village, and is caught up in his own popularity and the villagers’ faith and actually has to sacrifice himself unwillingly for keeping the faith.

In Namakharam, the hero is a management mole to break a labour union, but once inside, people’s faith and the high of being a popular do-gooder changes him, and he switches sides.

So whether or not our topi clad knight was a plant or a mole, he is trapped now. He has no choice but be the Messiah, and he will symbolise the will of the people, and deliver change.

Inshallah!

©Soumya Mukherjee

Photos from the Internet

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Soumya Mukherjee

Soumya Mukherjee is an alumnus of St Stephens College and Delhi School of Economics. He earns his daily bread by working for a PSU Insurance company, and lectures for peanuts. His other passions, family, friends, films, travel, food, trekking, wildlife, music, theater, and occasionally, writing. He has been published in many national newspapers of repute. He has published his first novel, Memories, a novella, hopefully, the first of his many books. He blogs as well.