Why I like Arvind Kejrival over all the other "India against corruption" activists

Today, on 2nd October 2012, Arvind Kejrival announced the vision for his new political party and vowed to take his fight against corruption to the parliament. While Arvind's capability to execute his vision is yet to be tried and tested on the harsh ground realities of Indian politics which not only comprise of corrupt politicians but also corrupt public; I must admire and wish good luck to Arvind for his courage and convictions.

I used the phrase "corrupt public" which might not be a politically correct statement but all of us have learned to be corrupt in this country due to centuries of conditioning. We have given up on resisting corruption. An electrician, telephone lineman, postman, RTO brokers, police constable, traffic police, land registration clerk, notary public lawyer.. the list goes on. Surviving in India is like passing through proverbial "kajal ki kothari" or a cabin of black collyrium. It is almost impossible to come out without any spot. Remember the college days when we would sign "proxy" for our missing classmates; would sneak into others papers during practical exams?

    I am little skeptic about the public always being better than the politician's because eventually the current corrupt politicians represent ourselves. If the politicians play the politics of caste, religion, region, language; it is also because the masses want favoritism and unjust advantage. It is to be seen how Arvind and his group of "honest politicians" fare against the corrupt electorate that they would represent.

    Nonetheless, it is a great step taken in the right direction. I always held that Anna Hazare is a good person, not necessarily a person with great vision and capability to steer the nation. At the height of his movement, I could sense he was no JP or Lohia. His methods were rudimentary and while it might work well for Ralegaon Siddhi; it would not work for a republic that is India. You cannot change the wrongdoers by tying to the telephone pole and beating with your army belt. I would also attribute Anna's movement's popularity  a lot to the people like Arvind Kejrival who worked in the background.

Here is my take on some of the crusaders against corruption and why I think Arvind is our best bet:

1. Anna Hazare:

A dry honest person with no selfish aspirations. Not sure on the vision and capability to run the nation. Is also gullible in hands of bad advisers as has become apparent on multiple occasions. He is like a mascot, many people try to use for their own selfish advantage. He contradicted himself when he said that Politics is full of dirt and no one should join politics. If you accept that politics has to be corrupt; why are you demanding the politicians to become clean?

2. Kiran Bedi

A Misguided missile. Good person at heart. Is fearless of establishment and instinctively outspoken. She lacks the depth and wisdom required to run an organisation. Gaps in her Armour was exposed when she opined that it was appropriate to point at the corruption cases done by Congress only and ignore BJP's wrong doings as they are not in power. She could become tool in hands of one corrupt opportunistic party against other.

3. Baba Ramdev

An eccentric and very dynamic person with ability to do achieve lots of things. He can be attributed to take yoga to household. His relentless ability to work has helped him amass an empire of Yoga, Ayurveda and spirituality. He has out shined all the people in his field. Today he owns the prominent TV channels which telecast all the spiritual programs run by his peers. His Ayurveda brand is giving a run for money to all the established names. He has the courage to challenge any establishment.

What he lacks is a balance of mind. The stitha prajna state of mind. He can be manipulated easily by his Pride and greed for recognition. He is in danger of becoming a puppet in hands of RSS and BJP. Astute politicians like Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari.

He also shows fox like characteristics of changing his statements. In one of the meetings he snubbed Arvind when he mentioned the name of Prime Minister and said that he was against personal attacks. Then in his rally he started calling names of everyone and became waving like Don Quixote. He also does not appear very clean in the means by which he has amassed his wealth.

So when I compare Arvind with his peers; I rate him very favourably in terms of his knowledge of current affairs; technical understanding of matter; balance of mind and ability to stand un-influenced by anyone.

One thing I hope he has is ability to accept his own criticism.

Good luck Arvind Kejriwal and I live with the dream of seeing India as a corruption free and just society.