In 2015, Kejriwal said, “We are not here for power politics. People ask if AAP is in the race for 2019. We are not in any race.”
New DelhiFeb 3, 2025 15:14 IST First published on: Feb 3, 2025 at 15:14 IST
Remember 2012? The India Against Corruption campaign had reached its peak. Blessed by a dedicated social leader, Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal was basking in reflected glory. His public appearance, with a muffler around his neck, became a symbol of simplicity. His frugal lifestyle made many invest all their hopes in him. Several also felt elated that a new rising star with a humble background, free from overarching ambition, had arrived on India’s political horizon. The expectations from AAP in general and Kejriwal in particular were so high that in 2015, a new political party won 67 out of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly. After NTR, Kejriwal was the only founding leader of a newly-founded political party who succeeded in forming a government in its initial attempts.
Alas, the unique characteristics of AAP — as a party and also its government — evaporated in a few years. The saga of AAP’s politics during the last 11 years has been one of contradictions and confrontations. There are at least seven sins the AAP leadership cannot wash its hands of.
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Inability to work as a team: In 2015, Kejriwal said, “We are not here for power politics. People ask if AAP is in the race for 2019. We are not in any race. Delhi’s win was miraculous. We just have to keep working hard. Don’t run after elections.” Kejriwal forgot that working together in a team was as important as working hard. The fact that AAP saw the desertions of many key leaders just about three years after it came into existence spoke volumes about Kejriwal’s autocratic style of functioning. Anna Hazare, Prashant Bhushan, Kumar Vishwas, Mayank Gandhi, Ashutosh and many more realised that Kejriwal was not at all a team person and finally deserted. After the departure of all these leaders, what remained was Arvind Kejriwal Private Limited.
No party building: With an absolute, free hand after the desertions, Kejriwal could have paid attention to building a well-knit party organisation and then expanded all over the country. But sadly, even after a decade, AAP’s organisational structure continues to be obscure and cleverly provides for the concentration of power in one figure. Worse, with the Swati Maliwal episode, its commitment to women’s empowerment and gender justice has come under a cloud.
Policy bankruptcy: A new political party, which spoke of idealism, has failed to come up with even the semblance of an ideology. Politically, except for the BJP, AAP is ready to ally with all and sundry. However, AAP’s policy bankruptcy is more serious. With an absolute lack of any serious policy analysis, any homework or any structured mechanism to learn from experiments, pure power politics alone has dominated. Eventually, this youngest of all national parties failed to bring anything new to the table.
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No good governance: People had great expectations from AAP in general and Kejriwal in particular since he had both experience in public administration and exposure to public issues due to his years in “activism”. Many thought he would be able to provide models of good governance, especially through the much-touted mohalla clinics and model primary schools. But alas, in an indefensible hurry, he failed. While mohalla clinics became known for doctored records, primary schools could not meet established standards. As against the Right to Education norms of 30 to 35 students in primary and upper primary schools, the Delhi government-run school actually saw between 100 to 190 students in each class, as per reliable reports. The list of scams under the AAP government would be incomplete without mentioning Sheesh Mahal and the alleged siphoning of money for the Goa elections through the liquor policy scam.
No longer-term vision: The way the AAP leadership has conducted its organisational and governance affairs leaves absolutely no doubt about its myopic vision. Punjab is suffering from an unchecked drug menace. With its lack of a grip over the administration and the “compulsions” of serving Delhi’s demands more promptly at the cost of Punjab’s interests, the AAP has squandered the opportunity given to it by voters in this border state. Had the party had a vision and organisation, it could have been a genuine alternative in more states.
No alternative politics: Bereft of ideology and even idealism, AAP’s initial promise of providing an alternative politics has proved to be a chimaera. Wanton prisoners of routine politics, the AAP leadership continues to be miles away from providing even a semblance of alternative politics.
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Discrediting jan andolans: Like Kejriwal, earlier ex-IAS officer Jayaprakash Narayan of Hyderabad and Medha Patkar —both activists—experimented with raising a formal political party. However, they have almost halted these efforts, probably after learning some lessons. Kejriwal has neither accepted his failures nor learnt any lessons. As a result, he has caused severe damage to the credibility of popular movements. This may be his greatest sin.
In the Mahabharata, Shishupal had the luxury of committing 100 sins before paying the price. Understandably, in this era of instant results, even seven sins are enough for people to lose patience.
The writer is a National Executive Committee member of the BJP
