The first general elections were held in India in 1952, where symbols of each candidate were marked on separate boxes in each polling station. However, the system of maintaining separate ballot boxes for each of the contesting candidates soon gave way to the ballot paper system which presented multiple names of the contesting candidates along with their election symbol. Advancement in technology ensured the ballot was then replaced by the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

The aspersions cast on the EVM today go a long way back to the very year in which it was first employed. It was the bye-election of Parur Assembly constituency of Kerala in 1982 and the EVMs had been installed in 50 polling stations. Consternation rose the minute the result was announced. Of six candidates, Sivan Pillai of the Communist Party of India came out on top securing 123 votes more than A.C. Jose of the Congress (A) Party.  The result was immediately challenged by Jose on the ground that the EVMs should not have been introduced without making due amendment in the Representation of People’s Act, 1951.

The Supreme Court in the challenge made by Jose struck down the election results of booths where the EVMs were employed. Subsequent to the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in A.C. Jose, Section 61A was inserted in the Representation of People Act, 1951 by the Parliament in December 1988 which empowered the Election Commission to use EVMs. .

The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) which has lately grabbed the spotlight, interestingly were first developed for a different purpose. Scientists of Bharat Electronics Limited (B.E.L) initially developed the machine for trade union elections. Grasping the utility and its relevance to the country’s general elections, the Election Commission then approached B.E.L. for manufacturing an EVM suitable for the general elections. The scientists after thorough experimentation and research designed such an EVM, manufactured in 1989-90; these were for the first time used in 16 Assembly Constituencies in the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan.  The machines also made their debut in Delhi at the General Elections to the respective Legislative Assemblies in November 1998.

Much water has flown since but the issue of possible tampering has reared its head time and again before the courts, though the courts have ruled it out.  The Karnataka High Court in 2004 in Michael B. Fenandes vs. C.K. Jaffer Sharief held that EVMs were fully tamper proof and further held that there was no possibility of manipulation or mischief at the instance of anyone. The issue of possible tampering was also negated by the Madras and Bombay High Court.

The Supreme Court while hearing the Public Interest Litigation filed by Dr. Subramanium  Swamy issued additional directions to ally the fears surrounding this electronic voting machine.  The Court issued directions for introduction of VVPAT system (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail), which involves a printing paper trail when the voter casts his vote, in addition to the electronic record of the ballot, for the purpose of verification of his choice of candidate and also for manual counting of votes in case of dispute. The Supreme Court in its judgment concluded that it was satisfied that the “paper trail” is an indispensable requirement of free and fair elections and that the confidence of voters in the EVMs can be achieved only with the introduction of the “paper trail”. The Supreme Court directed that in order to ensure fullest transparency in the system and to restore the confidence of the voters, it was necessary to set up EVMs with VVPAT system as this system would prove to be extremely helpful for manual counting of votes in case of dispute.

The system was accordingly introduced by the Election Commission of India in 21 polling stations of the bye-election of Noksen Assembly Constituency in Nagaland during September 2013. Later, acting on a dispute over the election result, the Election Commission carried out a count of the paper slips of VVPAT in respect of all polling stations and found no discrepancy between the electronic and paper count.

Despite the directions issued by the Supreme Court, the introduction of EVMs with VVPAT has not been implemented fully.  The recent elections in UP and the claims by the Opposition of alleged tampering of EVMs has brought the issue again to the forefront.  The non-availability of funds with the Election Commission to the tune of Rs. 3,000 crores, for the purchase of 16 lakh EVMs has been cited as one of the main reason for this failure.

The need to dispel voter concerns over the increasing use of technology in elections and the lack of transparency thereof has been a matter of great debate not only in India but several other countries.  In the 2017, United States Presidential election, nearly 70% of the voters cast paper ballots by hand.  Following their custom, the  five states—Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and New Jersey—used the “direct recording electronic” (DRE) machines exclusively and more than half of the other states conducted post-election auditing, by checking vote totals against paper records. Such audits are designed to verify that the electronic voting systems (either DRE voting machines or optical scan voting systems) are accurately recording and counting the votes. In the randomly-selected precincts, a hand count of the voter-verified paper records is compared to the totals reported by the electronic voting system.

After a largely successful trial period spanning from 1998 to 2005, two citizens challenged the constitutionality of electronic voting before the German Constitutional Court. The case argued that the use of electronic voting machines was unconstitutional and that it was possible to hack the voting machines thus the results of the 2005 election could not be trusted.

The Court held that the public nature of elections is a fundamental precondition for democratic political will formation and creates a major pre-condition for the well-founded trust of the citizen in the correct operation of the elections. The use of electronic voting machines requires that the essential steps of the voting and of the determination of the result can be examined by the citizen reliably and without any specialist knowledge of the subject.

The Constitutional Court, however, explicitly left the door open for the use of electronic voting machines if the constitutionally required possibility of a reliable correctness check is ensured. The Constitutional Court held that voting machines are conceivable in which the votes are recorded elsewhere in addition to electronic storage. While the court’s decision did not rule out the use of voting machines in principle, the decision by the German Constitutional Court, stressing the need for transparency in the electoral process without specialist technical knowledge, effectively ended use of electronic voting in the country and no further moves to adopt machines that meet the transparency requirements have been made either.

In April 2009, the Irish government announced the scrapping of the controversial electronic voting system. The machines were originally put on trial in three constituencies in the 2002 General Election and were intended for nationwide use in the 2004 European and local elections. But a number of security and transparency issues were raised, undermining the public’s trust. The nation has gone back to paper and pencil mode. Similarly, Netherlands were both an early adopter and early abolisher of electronic voting. It started using the EVM in the 1980s. In 2008, the use of electronic machines was abolished.

So what course does India chart? Does it follow the path adopted by countries like Germany and scrap electronic voting altogether? Pulling off EVMs from the poll booths? Much like the courts,  the Election Commissioners have time and again shown preference for the adoption of the VVPAT along with the EVMs instead of merely doing away with the system altogether. Former Chief Election Commissioners S Y Quraishi and H S Brahma recently called for a quick rollout of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in all polling stations across the country. They explained their stance saying that it was the only way to silence doubts over the alleged tampering of EVMs. The Election Commission has sent more than 10 reminders to the Centre since June 2014 for the release of funds to carry out phased implementation of the VVPATs.

As recently as 24 March 2017, the Supreme Court itself issued notice to the Election Commission on a Public Interest Litigation pertaining to the introduction of a paper trail. The Supreme Court observed that the Election Commission had not complied with the directions issued by it in 2013. This again has provided fresh fodder to the debate over the veracity of the EVMs.

While the courts have repeatedly held that the EVMs used in the Indian electoral process are tamper proof it has also provided directions for the introduction of the VVPAT system to rule out the remotest concerns. In lending support to the VVPAT, the Indian legislature has shown the way forward in this heated debate over EVMs. Its stern directions for the quick implementation of the VVPAT along with EVMs is proof of its commitment to assuage the voter and hence secure the democratic processes that India prides itself in. 

(The writer is a Supreme Court Advocate)

India got its very “Google Map” called “Nakshe”, the web portal designed by Survey of India (SoI) contains topographic maps or open series maps (OSM) containing natural and man-made geographical features including terrain or topography. These OSM maps can be downloaded for free “Nakshe” in pdf format on 1:50,000 scale through Aaadhar enabled user authentication process.

Launching “Nakshe” — http://soinakshe.uk.gov.in/ Â— which also marked the 250th anniversary celebrations of SoI, Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said this portal would help in making the vision of the country in its strongest form and help the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative. “Nakshe” will facilitate usage of open series maps by common man. It is also an attempt to strengthen linkages between government departments and geospatial industry to ensure appropriate planning and execution of transformational projects like Smart City and Digital India, he added.

FEATURES OF NAKSHE PORTAL

·         All OSM maps to be made available to Indian citizens for free download in .pdf format with reference to the national map policy.

·         Ensure compliance with National Data Sharing and Accessibility policy (NDSAP) 2012 as per which the government is committed to provide access for data generated using public money.

·         Address security concerns and tracking through Aadhar based authentication and bar coded tagging to Aadhar number of concerned user.

·         Application to be hosted in National Data Centre of NIC and security auditing to be done by CERT-IN before actual hosting of the application. A domain name “Nakshe” has been registered for the portal.

·         All Indian residents having Aadhar can access the portal.

·         About 3000 open series maps are available for download as of now.

·         The downloaded maps can be used to meet the requirements of study, research and developmental activities.

·         Commercialisation of the downloaded product is strictly prohibited.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Courtesy – ICT Flash

Vehicle users in India will soon see changes in petrol and diesel price on daily basis. Price will be aligned to international crude oil prices. 

Petrol, diesel prices to change every day in five cities from May 1

Petrol and Diesel prices will change every day in sync with international rates in five select cities from 1st May. A pilot for daily revision of petrol and diesel price will be first implemented in Puducherry, Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh. 

Indian Oil Corp – IOC chairman B Ashok told a news agency that state-owned fuel retailers IOC, BPCL and HPCL will launch it on pilot basis and gradually extend it to all over the country. 

State fuel retailers currently revise rates on 1st and 16th of every month based on average international price of the fuel in the preceding fortnight and currency exchange rate.

As per the trends of International crude oil prices consumers need not to worry as the price do not fluctuate on daily basis.

EC throws open challenge to people to hack its EVM’s from 1st week of May

The Election Commission has thrown an open challenge to people to hack its Electronic Voting Machines. The move came after opposition parties urged it to revert to the paper ballot system raising doubts over infallibility of the EVMs.

Sources said, from first week of May, experts, scientists, technocrats can come for a week or 10 days and try to hack the machines.The Commission had announced a similar challenge in 2009 and it claimed no one could hack the EVMs. 

Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu has welcomed the Election Commission’s decision to open challenge. Speaking to media, Mr Naidu said, if anybody has proof they can show that to the commission.

In the times of demonetization when the Modi Government is urging people to move towards electronic modes of payments, the factor that will matter most in making digital payments successful is uninterrupted internet access, particularly in rural areas where reliable mobile network are still a big issue.  While top mobile operators, including government-owned BSNL, is striving hard to ensure uninterrupted mobile network for better voice and uninterrupted data transfer, a Gurgaon-based telecom company – Vihaan Networks Ltd or VNL – has shown the way that could help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of “Digital India”.

Through its unique and ‘green’ mobile solutions, VNL has set up broadband networks in three villages in Rajasthan that provide seamless Wi-Fi coverage free of cost. These networks are literally maintenance-free that can be managed by any villager and are not dependent on government power supply as they are solar powered,

Though the villages of Karenda, Phalsa and Bahadari are yet to get good roads and proper supply of water, what they can boast of is uninterrupted Wi-Fi network that delivers good broadband speed and is free of cost. Students here can be seen visiting various websites related to education and jobs though they sometimes do visit entertainment and sports website for recreation. VNL has also provided broadband services to government school and ‘panchayat ghars’ in these villages that helps school and gram panchayats to get their official work done.

“We have created high-speed wireless internet services solutions especially for rural areas. Our ‘Rural Broadband Solution’ is totally solar-powered and standalone wireless broadband solution that provides seamless Wi-Fi coverage anywhere. It needs no shelter, air conditioning, connection to power grid, generator or diesel fund, and is ready for business in days providing fully-functional broadband,” says VNL Chairman Rajiv Mehrotra.

Another interesting innovation from VNL is ‘Gurukul’, village internet kiosk solution that enables rural communities to access high speed broadband internet without the need for connection to power grid or diesel generators. “High speed broadband internet access enables children to take advantage of distance learning and other e-learning initiatives. Villagers can also access the internet for e-finance and e-governance related tasks. Our modern and ‘green’ broadband solutions will help the government in speedy realization of the ‘Digital India’ goals,” adds Mr. Mehrotra.

Being close to Delhi, these villages had access to mobile networks and broadband, but erratic mobile connectivity and power supply besides high data packages made it difficult for them to freely use internet. “But for almost two years VNL has been providing us uninterrupted broadband access. Villagers, particularly children, are happy that they can use internet for education and other purposes. It has also helped us to get crucial information related to agriculture and weather. With the government scrapping old Rs.1000 and Rs.500 notes, people are now learning internet banking and other modes of e-transaction, thanks to good broadband network,” says a village elder.

VNL, which also has to its credit of supplying cost-efficient and reliable mobile network in Naxal-affected states, is planning to take its rural broadband solution to other remote areas of the country. “Our rural solution can bring broadband revolution across India, particularly in remote villages and far off places in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Northeast, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These easy-to-maintain and cost-effective Wi-Fi solutions can provide uninterrupted internet access to people. It can also help in running administration as we have demonstrated in these villages,’ Mr. Mehrotra adds.

Government sources say the Telecom Department and the BSNL have taken VNL’s experiment very positively and is mulling over starting a pilot project by using the technology. “VNL’s low-cost, and maintenance-free broadband solution looks ideal for taking Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ campaign to the next level. The Prime Minister is pushing for e-payments and e-transactions post scrapping of old currency, the challenge for the government is to see that every Indian gets uninterrupted internet access. And to make it possible, we need solutions like the one being provided by VNL,” a senior DoT official adds.

New Delhi: Both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die today. During the session, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed several important legislations, including four bills related to Goods and Services Tax (GST) and held debates on several key subjects.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan described the second part of the Budget session as productive and constructive. She said during the session, 24 bills were introduced out of which 23 were passed by the Lok Sabha. She said over eight hours were wasted due to disruptions during the session but the members sat 28 hours and 40 minutes extra to dispose of the urgent government business.

The legislations which have been passed include, four GST Bills, Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, the Specified Bank Notes( Cessation of Liabilities) Bill, the Maternity Benefit (Amendment Bill) Bill, the Enemy Property ( Amendment and Validation) Bill, the Mental Health Care Bill and the Motor Vehicles ( Amendment) Bill. The Union Budget and relevant Appropriation Bills were also given approval.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari said the Upper House passed or returned 14 bills during the session which generated lively debates. He said Union Budget 2017-18 and the working of the Railway Ministry were discussed at length. He said the issues relating to electoral reforms and Aadhaar saw animated debates in the House.  
The members also asked 260 supplementaries which is about 48 per cent of the total supplementaries asked. The second part of Budget session had begun on March 9. 

New Delhi: Almost all governments are under pressure to give VIP security protection to politicians and high-profile persons. The present NDA government has doled out VIP security cover to nearly 300 persons, often seen as a status symbol by several politicians. 

The top Z plus security cover has been provided to 26 persons, while Z category security cover has been given to 58 persons. The next category of Y plus protection has been given to 144 persons and the Y category to two persons, the last category of X security cover has been provided to 68 persons. 

The Lok Sabha was told today that security is provided on the basis of threat assessment done by Central Security Agency. It is subject to periodic review. Based on such review, the security cover is continued, withdrawn or modified. Hence, the number of protectees is not static and varies over time. 

Presently, the elite “Black Cat Commandos” of the National Security Guard (NSG) provide mobile security cover to 14 ‘Z+’ category protectees. NSG has deployed 551 security personnel for the protection of these protectees. Among the Z plus protectees are RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, BJP President Amit Shah, BJP patriarch L K Advani and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. 

The Lok Sabha was told by Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir, in a written reply, that it was difficult to assess the expenditure on security precisely as  it includes salary and allowances to security personnel, communication, transport vehicles, etc. which are accounted for under respective budget heads of different security agencies, including State Government agencies, providing security cover. Such details are not compiled centrally. 

There are special instructions for security of the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister, which are contained in their respective Blue Books, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Prime Minister is provided proximate security by the Special Protection Group (SPG). 

Security arrangements for other individuals are made as per the guidelines laid down in the ‘Yellow Book’ titled ‘Security arrangements for the protection of individuals’. The security arrangements for such individuals are made after careful assessment of their threat perception by the Central Security Agency. Depending on the level of threat, security is provided in Z+,Z,Y+,Y and X categories. 

Certain categories of individuals, such as Union Ministers, State Chief Ministers and Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, are provided positional/statutory security cover to facilitate bold and impartial decision making. Their security is withdrawn after they demit their office.

New Delhi: India’s outrage over handling down of death sentence by a Pakistani military court to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on the charges of espionage and subversion continued to find its echo in Parliament today. 

In a statement in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India’s position on the matter was clear. She asserted there was no evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Jadhav. “If anything, he is the victim of a plan that seeks to cast aspersions on India to deflect international attention from Pakistan’s well-known record of sponsoring and supporting terrorism. Under these circumstances, we have no choice but to regard the sentence, if carried out, as an act of pre-meditated murder,” she said.

The Minister said that Foreign Secretary had conveyed India’s position to the High Commissioner of Pakistan on Monday. 

In a stern message, she stated that the Government and people of India would view very seriously the possibility that an innocent Indian citizen is facing death sentence in Pakistan without due process and in violation of basic norms of law, justice and international relations. 

Ms. Swaraj cautioned the Pakistan Government to consider the consequences for Indo-Pak bilateral relationship if they proceed on this matter.

She informed the Rajya Sabha that she had been in touch with the parents of Mr. Jadhav and the government is extending its fullest support to them in this difficult situation. 

Sharing her concern, the Minister stressed that the death sentence by a Pakistani military court martial was given on concocted charges, “I would like to inform the House that Shri Jadhav was doing business in Iran and was kidnapped and taken to Pakistan. The exact circumstances are unclear and can only be ascertained if we have consular access to him. Accordingly, from the time his abduction was known, our High Commission in Islamabad has continuously pressed Pakistani authorities for such access. Although this is provided for by international law and is deemed a norm in international relations, the Government of Pakistan did not permit it. That itself should tell us much about the strength of the case against Mr. Jadhav,” she said. The Minister said that a senior Pakistani leader has himself expressed doubts about the adequacy of evidence in this case.Earlier this year, the Pakistan Government had sought India’s assistance to obtain evidence and other materials for the investigation process. In doing so, they levelled ridiculous charges against senior Indian officials who had no connection to this issue. Thereafter, they linked providing consular access to our acceptance of their position. Nevertheless, in the hope that some forward movement could be made, our response was constructive. We pointed out that consular access to Mr.  Jadhav would be an essential pre-requisite in order to verify the facts and understand the circumstances of his presence in Pakistan. Ms. Swaraj said. 

1. 
   Driving without licence get ready to pay fine of Rs. 5000
2. Do not think of driving if you have been disqualified from getting licence Rs. 10,000 fine
3. Drunken driving fine raised to Rs. 10,000
4. Not using safety accessories, pay fine up to Rs. 1000 and Disqualification for 3 months for licence
5. Offences by Juveniles: Guardian / owner shall be deemed to be guilty. Rs 25,000 fine with 3 yrs imprisonment. For Juvenile – to be tried under JJ Act. Registration of Motor Vehicle to be cancelled
6. State governments will issue licenses to taxi aggregators as per Central government guidelines.  Currently, state governments determine guidelines for plying of taxis.  There could be cases where state taxi guidelines are at variance with the Central guidelines on aggregators.
7. It is proposed to create National Register for Driving Licence and National Register for Vehicle registration through “Vahan” & “Sarathi” platforms.

The Aam Aadmi party’s mind boggling victory in the assembly elections in Delhi caught them unawares. What jolted them was that they not only ensured the rout of the Congress which failed to win even a single seat along with the BJP suffering its most humiliating defeat with only three seats in the 70-member assembly in the city state. 

For Prime Minister Narendra Modi this was his first defeat in nearly a dozen years since he became chief minister of Gujarat and in 2014 single handedly scripted BJP regaining power on the majestic Raisina Hill in Lutyen’s Delhi. His invincibility at the hustings took a severe beating with the prestigious Delhi assembly remaining a far cry. 

The Lotus party secured a majority in the Lok Sabha for the first time since it was formed 35 years back. The National Democratic Alliance with the saffron brigade in the vanguard crossed the rubicon of 300 and tallied 340 seats in the 543-member 16th Lok Sabha. 

These were stellar achievements for the BJP and a huge wake up call for the grand old Congress party which finished with a measly 44 seats in the House of the People in the country’s highest legislature, the lowest since independence. It denied the 129-year-old party the right to be the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it did not meet the requirement of having at least one-tenth of the strength of the Lok Sabha. They were ten short and had to stomach the ignominy despite emerging as the second largest political entity after the saffron brigade in the House of the People. 

The AAP and its supremo Arvind Kejriwal who is presently the chief minister of Delhi for the second time managed an incredible achievement with hardly any parallel in this country. Even though the activists and volunteers of the fledgling party deliberately moved away from the beaten path in politics seeking to replicate the Swiss system of direct democracy with direct interface with the people. 

In a huge country like India this limited experiment succeeded overwhelmingly. Kejriwal and his AAP caught the imagination of the people of Delhi which is essentially a pot pourri of migrants from all over the country particularly North India including the Hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. 

Author and political editor of Outlook magazine Saba Naqvi, who has closely followed the AAP since its inception, painstakingly provides valuable insight into its ingenious election campaign bringing to the fore the crucial factors that compelled the electorate in Delhi to overwhelmingly vote for the fledgling party the second time around. 

The first time in 2013 when the AAP took part in the democratic process it failed to get a majority in the Delhi assembly but emerged as the second largest with 28 seats. The BJP was in front with 32 seats and fell tantalisingly short of a simple majority by four seats. Backed by the Congress having eight seats, Kejriwal formed the government and quit abruptly 49 days after he was sworn in. The people were disappointed and angry that the AAP wasted a huge opportunity to govern Delhi and implement its pledges to the people. 

In the 2014 general elections the AAP came a cropper in Delhi and believed it had a second chance. And they grabbed it with both hands. Saba’s emphasis in winning 67 of the 70 seats in the 2015 Delhi assembly elections, Kejriwal demonstrated how a party that has radically challenged the norms of Indian politics can bounce back trouncing all other contenders particularly the two national parties in the BJP and the Congress with the latter ruling Delhi for three terms or 15 years without a break. 

The AAP campaign ticked all the right boxes with the promise of populism and a city wide network of activists blurring the lines between volunteerism and political activism. In deliberately muting its attacks on the opposition while concentrating instead on the issues that mattered to the people, the once written-off AAP rewrote the rules of the game. 

Even as the BJP won a national mandate, the AAP has only won Delhi. There is a great asymmetry in numbers. But there are certain implications for Indian politics as a whole. Political chemistry does change when a new element is added to the mix. 

The BJP is a fully finished political product while the AAP is still evolving.  

The author has also touched upon the inner struggles of the party especially with regard to founder members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. It is widely believed by the core group of the AAP that Prashant has been manipulated by Yadav and his father Shanti Bhushan. 

Kejriwal was blunt and direct in saying he has had enough of them. He chronicled how Prashant, Yadav and Shanti Bhushan betrayed them. “I am here to fight the forces of corruption and communalism. I am not here to fight Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav,” declared Kejriwal. Being witness to many inner party struggles after the 2014 general elections Kejriwal has learnt to shrug things off. 

Interviewed by Saba, Kejriwal stressed “I had not come to set up just another party with a high command culture like the BSP. I had come to change the nature of politics. It is also important to remember that this was a movement that has become a successful political party.”  

He acknowledged that emotions run high in the AAP. At the same time the author believes political parties centre around a charismatic leader. Kejriwal is a leader around whom everything has happened. 

The question is can Arvind Kejriwal be replicated elsewhere? He inspired the young eager beaver volunteers who were at the heart of executing the campaign. 

His experiment in alternative politics for traditional parties was successful. The million Dollar question is can the elections in Delhi change the fundamentals of how politics is pursued in this country. 

After the 2015 Delhi verdict, Modi decided on a wardrobe shift of tailoring his kurtas in the style he prefers. This is a wake up call for both the BJP and the Sangh to move away from a personality and restart the dialogue within the party. As the BJP is currently the ascendant force in national politics, the AAP is clear that it will be positioning its politics as a counter to the ruling national party. 

The key to becoming a real national alternative, Kejriwal believes is to create an entirely new model of governance in Delhi showcasing how the AAP does things differently. The AAP supremo is keen to evolve into an innovative administrator from his previous avatars as activist, campaigner and now politician. The AAP wants to work towards ensuring that each Vidhan Sabha constituency has its own budget. This is revolutionary and more than just thinking out of the box. 

The participative budget has proved that transparent administration of resources is the only way to avoid corruption and mishandling of public funds. The AAP has given the country a blockbuster in electoral politics and issues of governance. Overall Saba’s second book captures efforts to change traditional politics by resorting to interactive and direct democracy which appears to have struck a chord at least with Delhi-ites. The experiment has just begun in this country.