Message to Kejriwal after media snub: Keep fighting

Switch off the television set, the phenomenon called Arvind Kejriwal gets reduced to a miniscule fraction of what it is. Keep it switched off for six months, probably you would forget that he ever existed. The media can be a cruel creature, Kejriwal must have realised on Tuesday. His sensational disclosure on the alleged acts of corruption involving Gujarat strongman Narendra Modi simply had no takers. Television channels discussed FDI, a topic they have analysed a zillion times, and the Gujarat elections instead. A royal snub, one must say. It’s the same media that had catapulted him to stardom a year ago, buying without disbelief whatever he uttered for public consumption. But that’s the nature of the beast. Kejriwal seemed to have forgotten that it had to happen sometime. He was repeating himself far too often and had ceased to be entertaining enough. The game of leveling shocking charges was practically over with the episodes of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and BJP president Nitin Gadkari. The other targets had to be higher in profile to evoke interest. They were not. [caption id=“attachment_546576” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kejriwal must realise that the novelty factor in his so called exposes has evaporated. Reuters[/caption] But his biggest mistake was overestimating the intensity of the general anger against corruption. He never realised every individual is a political animal first and the conviction on the issue of corruption is a matter of convenience, adjustable to political leanings, for many. Our sense of morality is highly elastic. For example, many would declare an all-out war against one government over the findings of CAG, but would be totally silent in the case of the financial irregularities detected by the national auditor in the case of another. People will make clever distinction between cases of big ticket corruption, let’s say in Odisha or Gujarat, and at the Centre. They will keep changing rules and the goalposts when they have to sit in judgment on the subject. Probably it’s all too human. Kejriwal failed to realise that Narendra Modi is the flavour of the season in the media and a hot favorite among news consumers, particularly in the urban areas. Not many would be prepared to buy his allegations against him even if they might be genuine. Nothing else explains the complete silence of television channels who otherwise jump into the thick of things without even the basic fact check. Kejriwal must realise that the novelty factor in his so called exposes has evaporated. The exercise is open to suspicion and questions now. And finally people will accept what suits them politically. The way the Lokpal movement led by Anna Hazare and choreographed by himself collapsed last year after it became clear to the supporters that the Union government is not going to fall should be a reminder. The election his party faces early next year could deliver him the rude reality. But let’s not dump the civil society activist-turned politician in a hurry. Nobody is in doubt that he is driven by a cause — his joining politics is only a spinoff of that. What he has been trying all along is to highlight that the definition of the concept of ’establishment’ has changed. It is not the government in power only, it is much wider. It includes all politicians, corporate players, higher bureaucracy and the media too and corruption is what binds them together. If one is serious about tackling corruption, one must not lose sight of the many nexuses that help perpetuating corruption. The simple message he wants to convey is by narrowing down corruption to one single political party or the other, corruption could not be fought effectively. Its architecture remains the same even though the players change. The change, he feels, needs to be more deep and widespread. It is unfortunate that his argument is losing traction even among people who are politically neutral. A royal snub is not what he deserves. But maybe he should stop relying on the media so much. There are other ways of reaching out to people. These are difficult. But nothing should be too difficult if one is passionate about a cause.