AAP: Can broom sweep nation?

When someone talks about politics these days, one of the recurring themes is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its chief Arvind Kejriwal. Suddenly, the AAP has recaptured the imagination of the voters, thanks to a resounding victory in Punjab, where it decimated the Congress and the Akali Dal. Till now, it was just a Delhi party, though it showed promise of an early expansion.

The latest celebration comes as it has become the only party besides the BJP and the Congress to rule two states. This puts them above other regional parties, like the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Nationalist Congress Party. In Rajya Sabha, it will have 10 MPs by July – much above the numbers of parties like the SP, RJD, NCP, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal (United), YSR Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal and Shiv Sena among others. The Akali Dal will not have a single member in the Rajya Sabha by then.

So, Kejriwal and his AAP are surely growing in stature. Riding on the enthusiasm, the AAP has now set its eyes on poll-bound Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, where it finds a chance to improve its performance and may eventually replace the Congress as the principal challenger to the ruling BJP. It recently appointed new leaders to oversee the party’s expansion bid in nine states, including Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

Also Read — AAP adds to Punjab's happiness index

The victory in Punjab has also given the AAP a new assertiveness, one that could be seen in its choice of Rajya Sabha candidates from the state. Only one out of the five candidates was a Sikh. Earlier when three vacancies in Delhi arose, Kejriwal chose party leader Sanjay Singh and then announced two surprise names – businessman S C Gupta and Chartered Accountant N D Gupta, who were largely unknown to the party cadre.

Shrewd leader

The party has grown in over nine years since its inception in November 2012. Kejriwal is a shrewd leader. He saw an opportunity in the rising arrogance and corruption in the Congress-led UPA regime and built a movement against corruption riding on the popularity of Anna Hazare, who sat on a dharna in Delhi. He slowly started bringing together people like prominent lawyer Prashant Bhushan, activist Yogendra Yadav, whom he had befriended as a transparency activist. In April 2011 as west Asia was witnessing the ‘Arab Spring’, it all started with a motley crowd at Jantar Mantar, which grew into a crisis for the UPA.

Hazare was not in favour of taking a political plunge, but the ‘Shishya’ left the ‘Guru’ to carve his own path. Soon came the 2013 assembly elections in Delhi, where it won 28 seats against the BJP’s 32 out of a total 70. The BJP needed four more MLAs for a majority. The Congress’ eight then pledged support to the AAP to form the government, but in 49 days, Kejriwal resigned protesting against the Congress not supporting the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill. The AAP was then on a high. It fielded 432 candidates in the Lok Sabha polls and Kejriwal chose himself as a worthy opponent to Narendra Modi in Varanasi. Kejriwal and the AAP lost badly, winning just four seats in Punjab.

Also Read — AAP is a renewed force after Punjab elections: Karnataka convener Prithvi Reddy

The pundits started writing obituaries about the AAP, but the 2015 assembly elections in Delhi had something else in store. The BJP believed it could return to power in Delhi after a gap of 17 years riding on the Modi wave, but Delhiites were under the silent spell of Kejriwal. The AAP won 67 seats, the BJP three and the Congress was left with no seat. Five years down the line, it again repeated – 62 this time. The Congress again failed to open the account.

In between, the AAP was working in Punjab where it emerged as the main Opposition party in 2017 pushing Akali Dal to the third position, while the Congress stormed to power. As the Congress was perceived to be losing the battle after 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the AAP slowly ventured out winning some civic body seats in Gujarat and elsewhere. For the AAP, these nine-plus years were not a smooth ride. Kejriwal’s close associates like Bhushan and Yadav left the party accusing him of being dictatorial. Kejriwal tightened his grip by removing detractors and filling up the party with his loyalists.

He always projected the Delhi model of governance – free electricity and water as well as health and educational facilities. His silence on the Delhi riots and the anti-CAA protests, including in Shaheen Bagh, raised questions. He consciously avoided directly attacking Modi till now. But the Punjab victory appears to have changed the turf. On Friday, he was in his element attacking Modi in the Delhi Assembly. He told the BJP MLAs that the maker of the controversial film ‘The Kashmir Files’ is making crores of rupees while leadership of the saffron party was making them paste its posters. If a Prime Minister has to promote a film, it shows all is not well, he added.

What Kejriwal apparently wanted to mean is “Picture abhi baaki hai!

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