Ever since Arvind Kejriwal took the controversial decision to turn into a politician and start a new political party (which will subsequently fight all Lok Sabha seats after making a beginning with Delhi Assembly elections), he seems to have lost much of his fan base. Though it is also controversial to say that even before joining politics he enjoyed so much fan following personally, because most of his fans of today are basically followers and admirers of Anna Hazare who had to stop his non-political social movement against corruption because of unknown reasons. Many people blame Mr. Kejriwal's political ambitions for breaking up and failure of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement also. No matter what, it is certain that after joining politics, Kejriwal has lost many admirers.
Let us see what India's best achievers, leaders of their fields who are looked up to by young Indians, are speaking about M. Kejriwal and his "brand" of politics:
Deepak Parikh, Chairman of HDFC Bank
Deepak Parikh said, "I think the manner in which he (Kejriwal) is going about is not right. When asked whether he would help Kejriwal if he seeks his advice on economic policy matters, Parekh said he will never do so and would never vote for his candidates as he does not approve of the way he is going about with his plans. Parekh also slammed the media for incessant coverage of Kejriwal & Co. and asked it to report other important issues. "I would like to blame you, the media...you have nothing else to report other than Kejriwal. Why do you give so much of importance to all this? Give us some news, don't tell us what Kejriwal said," Parekh said. [Ref1], [Ref2], [Ref3]
Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and former CEO and MD of Infosys
Nandan Nilekani said that he does not believe Arvind Kejriwal‘s style of fighting against corruption is good for India and especially slammed Kejriwal for focusing his campaign on grabbing TV talktime and eyeballs. He said, “The notion (that) you can bring corruption by having bunch of OB vans, I think that’s not going to solve the problem.”There is a lack of appreciation of the long term institutional and systematic changes required to get to the desired goals, he added. “I’m as much for fighting corruption as the next guy. But, I certainly don’t believe that by passing a law or putting more penalties on bureaucrats or creating more inspectors is going to solve the corruption problem. That’s absolutely the wrong prescription,” he said. [Ref1], [Ref2]
NR Narayana Murthy, founder and ex-CEO of Infosys
NR Narayana Murthy has revealed that he had spurned a request last month from Arvind Kejriwal, the activist-turned-politician, to fund his political activities. "Mr Kejriwal approached me in September 2012 asking for financial assistance, I declined. I have not financially supported Mr Kejriwal's political activities," Murthy said. "Mr Arvind Kejriwal approached me in 2008 to donate money to raise awareness about the RTI Act by instituting awards to recognise the contribution of public information officers, public information commissioners, NGOs and citizens. I agreed to give Rs 25 lakh a year for five years and requested Tatas to contribute an equal sum, which Tata Social Welfare Trust was kind enough to agree," the statement said. In all, the Infosys founder contributed over Rs 1 crore between 2008 and 2011 for RTI related work. [Ref1], [Ref2], [Ref3]
Javed Akhtar, veteran poet, lyricist and scriptwriter
Javed Akhtar hit out Kejriwal hard during the event Agenda Aaj Tak 2012, accusing him of being like a journalist, pointing out problems but with no solutions. [Ref1], [Ref2]. Javed Akhtar wondered if Arvind Kejriwal's dislike and non-belief was in a particular set of politicians or all politicians and accused him of not believing in the system including India's constitution and the parliament. He said that he would believe what BJP or Congress leaders say because they have been elected by the people of India, but Arvind Kejriwal has self proclaimed to be people's voice and uses undemocratic means to demand what he believes is good for India. At the near end of his speech, Javed Akhtar challenged Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to visit Pakistan once and when he would return to India, he would love our nation.
Note: Views are personal and do not reflect views of any person or organization associated with the author.
Javed Akhtar, veteran poet, lyricist and scriptwriter
Javed Akhtar hit out Kejriwal hard during the event Agenda Aaj Tak 2012, accusing him of being like a journalist, pointing out problems but with no solutions. [Ref1], [Ref2]. Javed Akhtar wondered if Arvind Kejriwal's dislike and non-belief was in a particular set of politicians or all politicians and accused him of not believing in the system including India's constitution and the parliament. He said that he would believe what BJP or Congress leaders say because they have been elected by the people of India, but Arvind Kejriwal has self proclaimed to be people's voice and uses undemocratic means to demand what he believes is good for India. At the near end of his speech, Javed Akhtar challenged Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to visit Pakistan once and when he would return to India, he would love our nation.
Note: Views are personal and do not reflect views of any person or organization associated with the author.
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