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


AAP - THE ROAD AHEAD

Dear Friends,
To-day we are presenting the third part of a crucial topic, the 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 3

The crux of the AAP strategy must be based on guerrilla tactics. It must be “Low Cost – High Impact – Easy To Duplicate – Difficult To Suppress – Unconventional”.
Shivaji used these tactics to bring the mighty Mogul Army to its knees. Let’s do the same to BJP. All our energies must be focused on a single opponent.

1. Utilizing AAP’s strengths:
a) The enthusiasm of AAP to be kept at a high level: The opponents are playing their dirty game of trying and demotivating AAP supporters to break-up the organization, using Paid Media. Even resignations by a very few AAP leaders, is played out as if it’s the end of road. Happily AAP supporters are made of sterner stuff and are not swayed by such news items. However, absence of news and spread of false news both can cause dissonance and start rumours, depressing supporters. As such, it’s the need of the hour that AAP should use Social Media and Blogging to create their own News Dissemination System. News collection should be done on an All-India basis by AAP volunteers. Collating of these on a single platform must be done centrally and dissemination must be done in as many languages as possible.

b) Self-starter spirit: AAP cannot afford a highly organized BJP RSS like rigid and elaborate structure. Also such a structure is not suitable for guerrilla tactics. Our structure should be flexible and with very little hierarchy. Strategies should be simple and free from dogma. The self-starter spirit of AAP volunteers will modify and adapt it to local conditions. Opponents will not know what strategy is being used where, so they cannot have a co-ordinated reaction to it. Their rigid structure will not allow flexibility. This is exactly how Shivaji fought Aurangzeb.

c) Resolve to analyse the failure frankly and modify action plan: This is a great strength, as AAP supporters do not get disheartened by failure, but analyse within their groups where AAP went wrong. Unhappily because of a near absence of a two-way communication between AAP supporters and AAP leaders, the supporters are at a complete loss to know how they can help the organization. Thus AAP is losing out on a major group which can take up the fight. We must create a 2 Way communication channel for taking quick corrective actions, which is the core of guerrilla tactics.

d) A country-wide panoramic unity for continuing the struggle: This is a very great strength of AAP where all supporters are concerned only on issue- based discussions and not on the caste and religion of anyone. A strategy made with such considerations is not even taken up for consideration by the groups. This should be the basic criterion for all AAP supporters and any deviation from this should be nipped in the bud. This will encourage all sections to interact with us freely, and will be a great strength while conducting Nukkad – Sabhas. We are representing people and their problems which has nothing to do with their caste or religious identities. We should take up problems they are facing because of any discrimination against them, but not fight for advantages for them based on their caste or religious status.

e) Continue fight against corruption: AAP has become strongly identified with corruption removal and should continue with that. Using cameras/video cameras for recording and exposing corruption in the daily lives of people should be a regular phenomenon. This should be given wide publicity through face book and social media. Also AAP should develop relationship with smaller media groups, who are not BJP funded, for such expose. This will give the small media visibility and mind space of readers and they would look forward to such stories from AAP. In turn they will give favorable coverage to AAP. This again is Shivaji’s guerrilla strategy in which he did not fight on large battlefields but on smaller ones where flexibility was critical and not size.

2. How to counter negatives of AAP: 
a) The present organizational structure of AAP is unsuitable for governance: This should be a top priority for AAP, as the present structure is seriously jeopardizing AAP’s effectiveness. The organic and flexible structure was very apt for agitational activism. The same situation was faced by V P Singh government which could not adjust itself which led to its failure. The organizational structure governs the mind-set and implementation system. AAP should have two separate bodies. One should be responsible for strategic thinking and look at the economic scenario of the country, continually monitor road-blocks to progress and interact with all stakeholders. AAP has failed to do this, leading to serious doubts in the minds of various sections how they will fare in an AAP dispensation. This is a recipe for disaster. The second body should be involved in implementation of agreed strategies. This should have units for monitoring and auditing target achievement, course correction and feedback to public. The present Planning Commission is a non-dynamic and bureaucratic and does not reward performance. AAP should start from scratch.

b) AAP’s communication system to its bases is very poor or non-existent: This leads to support units working at cross-purposes and getting influenced by their own distorted information systems, thus leading to frustration. AAP should set-up a very senior party leader with exclusive responsibility of quick and continuous 2-Way Communication. Guerrilla tactics can only succeed if the team knows its action plan in detail and the leader knows how each member is performing and what resources are needed by him.

c) AAP has no organized selection and training system for its pan-India activities: For optimum performance, continuous training is a must. This can be done economically and with high impact through videos, regularly exchanged with support groups. Also, recruitment can no longer be a voluntary phenomenon. Support groups should be encouraged and motivated to keep increasing their number. There should be an optimum size of a support group. As the group gets bigger, a new group should be started. Each group should have a specific identity in the social media with responsibility of a geographical territory. Support groups should be trained to generate funding for their own activities with proper documentation, control and audit.

d) AAP lacks diplomatic negotiating ability: Effective functioning and governance is crucially dependent upon diplomatic negotiating skills. AAP seriously lacks these skills. Public does not like agitations, and to-day even left parties have serious reservations about strikes, pen-downs and dharnas. My way or highway approach does not work to-day. Negotiations and diplomacy are the means to achieve results without disruptions. It is not only an accepted form but expected form of governing ability. AAP should identify such people and encourage them to join.

e) AAP has no mass communication platform: This is a serious weakness as AAP is dependent on a hostile media for reaching its voters and supporters. During the elections, media played a game where it has unabashedly supported BJP, completely ignored SP, BSP, TMC, AIADMK, and BJD, while painting both Congress and AAP as incompetent. The only effective way to reach the masses is through Nukkad-Sabhas. These will require trained volunteers with continuous updates. However, the impact of this will be huge. The volunteers should engage people in a 2-way dialogue to understand their issues and give them guidance. These Nukkad-Sabhas can become self-funded, if the volunteers are able to resolve issues by interacting with local administration. AAP volunteers should scrupulously avoid getting involved in political messaging or BJP bashing at these Sabhas, as it would polarize the groups and people will be afraid to air their grievances. The administration may also become antagonised and may not extend help.

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:  What should be AAP 's focus now -----in three parts

The future strategy for AAP which will evolve from your responses will be our final TOPIC:
TOPIC 6 : Discussions Of Points Raised By All Of You And Final Strategy Formulation
We must ensure that no obstacles can now stop AAP - from THE ROAD AHEAD.

Looking forward to your participation.

Sincerest Regards,
Pravin Gupta

AAP - THE ROAD AHEAD