I understand I might be stepping over many toes. It indeed looks like comparing apples with oranges given the vast differences between the two societies, their political history and the nature of their polities. But, I insist it is worth a thought as at some levels we have a lot in common and I am not just referring to the pre-Partition history or our common linguistic and cultural roots, etc. It’s about our current politics.

My defense against this blasphemous act, of comparing the politics of the two parties, is based on two points. Dare I elaborate?

The cause célèbre for both the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in Pakistan and the Aam Aadmi Party in India has been corruption in government and politics. Corrupt politicians win elections and form governments that protect and promote corruption. They both identify ‘cleaning of the filth’ as the way forward – the way that will certainly make life easier for middle classes and might also benefit the lower, resource-less classes. That’s one.

The other commonality is that they both find the voter stuck between ‘non-choices’. People may vote to victory party A or party B but governance approaches, economic policies and a lot more remains the same. Elections thus have become sterile and there is weariness with even ‘politics’. So both the parties presented themselves as a third option promising change and wanting to convert this weariness into a new political currency.