Narayana Murthy's thumbs up to AAP spells trouble for BJP

Is the business community gradually warming up to the idea of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)? There are indications to this effect and it may unsettle the Bharatiya Janata Party a bit.

In an interview to The Economic Times today, Infosys Executive Chairman NR Narayana Murthy has lauded AAP for the spectacular victory that the party had in the Delhi elections.

Terming the AAP winning 28 seats “a truly remarkable achievement”, he told the newspaper that it has destroyed the myth political parties need a lot of money to win elections.

“It means if you have a thoughtful message for people, they will vote.”

He also thinks the idea behind AAP is important for this is likely to encourage more such engagements in politics. If more independent candidates use the AAP methodology and win in other cities, it could even impact the Narendra Modi vs Rahul Gandhi dynamic, he has said.

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So what is this idea behind the AAP that has got Murthy hooked on? It is the promise of corruption-free politics based on transparency.

Significantly, Murthy is not the only one from the business community to support the AAP.

Even as the results were pouring in and it was clear that the Congress on the way to get routed, Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said praising the AAP’s “amazing” debut that “people want corruption free politics based on transparency and responsibility”.

[caption id=“attachment_951273” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narayana Murthy[/caption]

She tweeted that the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal have walked the talk on clean politics and tasted success as a result.

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Another businessman who echoed the view was Anand Mahindra, Chairman and MD, Mahindra Group. He was of the opinion the AAP victory meant that India still wants to be an idealistic country rather than a cynical one. “Honesty isn’t just the best policy but the best politics,” he tweeted.

The industry lobby groups are, however, yet to make public their stance on the AAP.

“The country’s top business chambers have welcomed the prospect of a new Government in Delhi with cautiously worded statements but they politely decline to discuss the state of business and indeed of the corporate sector if a party like AAP were to come to power in Delhi,” an earlier article in _Firstpost_ note d.

But clearly there is a section among them batting for transparency and clean politics, who is supporting the AAP. If this grows (it should for transparency boosts good business), the argument that only right wing politicians can be business-friendly politicians will be destroyed.

This will spell trouble for the BJP.