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Politics of Populism Decoded

India has never witnessed any populist movement since independence. The JP movement in 1977 was closest to populism but it was primarily anti-establishment rather than populist. For the first time since independence we are experiencing populist movement. Many has already described this as anarchy and at the same time some are very optimistic. I think this must be analysed and debated as it touches our daily lives. Emergence of AAP is truly populist movement, a similar version of this which has been experienced by many countries. Populist movement need not to be tilted towards either left or right. History has examples of fascist like Mussolini and revolutionary like Che Guevara. Both represented two extremes. These leaders were very successful in influencing people against ‘System’ and “Elite” to create a place for themselves. They inspired the young generation and convinced them to become activist to garnered political support. The key characteristics of populist leader is that he