TOPIC 5 - PART 2:  WHAT SHOULD BE AAP'S FOCUS NOW 


AAP - THE ROAD AHEAD

Dear Friends,
To-day we are presenting the second part of a crucial topic, the strength and weaknesses of AAP. We are thankful to all of you for reading our posts and sending in your comments. We have incorporated your views and they have definitely improved our presentation.

TOPIC 5 - PART 2
What things are not going in favor of AAP, and should be urgently attended to:

a) The present organizational structure is unsuitable for governance: The agitational approach, which was the cause of AAP’s birth, required a dynamic, close-knit organization. Such an organization could take quick actions, without wide pan-group discussions, throwing the ruling party off-balance. This proved very useful and resulted in the wide appreciation and steep popularity growth for AAP, leaving existing parties clueless as to how to react. After AAP had formed a political party and took up the government formation in Delhi, this organization structure proved inappropriate. The agitational actions of AAP left its own supporters unable to justify AAP’s actions and they turned critical. Governance is done with a sense of responsibility and public does not like nasty surprises and disturbance to its daily life. AAP was termed immature and incapable of implementing development, leading to a large AAP middle-class support base changing over to BJP. This has cost AAP dearly in the recent elections.

b) AAP’s communication system to its bases is very poor or non-existent: This weakness results from the improper organization structure discussed in a) above. Party workers and supporters need continuous information about the party’s policies, action plans and guidance. AAP has no mechanism for providing this. In my own personal discussions with AAP head office, they expected me to write to them by e-mail, to which they would reply. Replies take 10-15 days. You cannot run a political party like this, much less a campaign. AAP must have a pro-active communication system, headed by a very senior functionary, who can disseminate information in real time. AAP has a huge Facebook community who are very sharp and can become a great strength in communication for AAP, if utilized properly.

c) AAP has no organized selection and training system for its pan-India activities: Due to its knee-jerk planning approach, AAP went ahead for parliamentary elections on over 410 seats, with little resources in terms of money and people. Its explanation that this was not its own decision, but it was the people who wanted to fight, was not only very facile but vey irresponsible. Would AAP do anything just because people told it to do so? Repeatedly repeating the same on the national media showed AAP lacked strategic thinking. No marketing manager would ever launch a new product on an All-India basis with meagre resources. It’s a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Unless AAP creates a strategic think-tank, made up of corporate strategists, and not of lawyers and administrators, AAP cannot succeed. Failures, without a reasonable cause, result in demotivation of supporters, loss of confidence by public and loosing financial donors.

d) AAP lacks diplomatic negotiating ability: This again is a carry-over from the activism days of AAP. People expect that problems must be solved by negotiation and discussions. This is not a management jargon, but something inherent in our genes. Even in our epics, negotiations, even with arch enemies, has always been considered the most preferred option. Please refer Ramayana and Mahabharata. Confrontation is to be resorted to only after all avenues of settlement fail. Indians are brought up on the philosophy of peace, and not of agitation. It does not mean that agitation is not important, and the public has supported AAP for its valid agitations. But AAP did not realize when to agitate and when to negotiate. To win the political chess-board, you must corner the opponent, leaving it with very few options.

e) AAP has no mass communication platform: AAP was able to garner a large chunk of media time, when media found that AAP news was beneficial to its revenue model. When it was BJP paying media directly or indirectly, AAP lost out on this time. Also, media has the option of presenting AAP to the public in a positive or negative colour, as it suits its editorial priorities. If AAP has to be an effective political force, it must have a very strong capability of direct communication with the public, without distortion of its message. If AAP cannot afford normal media, it should create a very strong social media platform.

We shall next present TOPIC 5 - PART 3: How should AAP utilize its positives and manage its negatives. 

We invite all of you to send in your comments and suggestions on Part 1and 2 of TOPIC 5, and all previous TOPICS. We would like to incorporate them in our coming presentations.

Please feel free to read our previous posts on AAP-The Road Ahead:

TOPIC 1:  ANALYSIS OF THE MOOD OF THE COUNTRY
TOPIC 2:  WHAT ACTUALLY LED TO BJP-MODI VICTORY
TOPIC 3:  WHERE DID AAP GO WRONG
TOPIC 4:  WHAT ARE THE STRUCTURAL STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF BJP
TOPIC 5 - PART 1  What things are going in favour of AAP 

Sincerest Regards,
Pravin Gupta

AAP - THE ROAD AHEAD