AAP flawed champion of new politics: Loksatta chief

Hyderabad, Feb 10 (IANS) The Loksatta party Tuesday said the verdict of the Delhi assembly polls reflects voters being fed up with politics and termed the Aam Admi Party (AAP) as the flawed champion of new politics.

Loksatta's chief Jayaprakash Narayan said AAP's focus on anti-corruption, clean elections, civic amenities and local governance were in the right direction and the people endorsed this.

But he said that AAP's "stridency, anarchic anti-institutionalism, freebies and reckless populism are troubling".

"There is a deep desire to end plutocracy and kleptocracy. People want growth and jobs. People also want new political culture," the bureaucrat-turned-politician tweeted.

JP, as he is popularly known among supporters, feels that Modi's mandate is to transform the economy and deliver and his government should focus on those goals.

"People also want new politics and local empowerment. Nation, state, district, city and village - all must have defined role, powers and funds, said Narayan, who quit as an IAS officer in 1996 to launch the Loksatta as a movement for democratic reforms and turned it into a political party before 2009 elections.

Narayan, who served as a member of Andhra Pradesh assembly between 2009 and 2014, said oligarchies and traditional politics must end.

"Dynasties, money bags and politics as business have no place in a mature democracy. Major parties must respond to people's urges and transform the political culture. Vote buying, polarisation, freebies and corruption must end."

He said quality education and healthcare, delivery of services, local empowerment, rule of law, growth and jobs must be at the heart of new politics.