Is AAP’s anti-corruption armour Teflon-coated?

"Prime Minister ji, if Kejriwal is corrupt, there is no one honest in this world. I want to tell you that the day you find corruption of a single paisa against Kejriwal, hang me publicly." Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said this on May 5, while dedicating 80 ‘Aam Aadmi clinics’ in Punjab. In politics, exaggeration has a high tensile strength.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s anti-corruption credentials are its political raison d'etre, and it is this credential that AAP’s political opponents are attacking or exposing, depending on how news developments are interpreted. While writing this article an Enforcement Directorate raid is underway in the premises of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.

Kejriwal’s May 5 statement was not the first of its kind, and it would not be the last. If there is one factor that differentiates AAP from other mainstream political parties in India, it is the party’s emphasis on its anti-corruption credentials and Kejriwal’s image as its crusader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi might have demonetised high-value currencies in 2016 with the stated purpose of fighting black money, but it is Kejriwal’s ‘muffler man’ and AAP’s ‘jaadu’ that has many identify with fighting corruption.

This association is partly because of the tailwinds from the 2011 Anna movement against corruption from which AAP was evolved, and partly because Kejriwal & Co do not miss an opportunity to reiterate this credo.

On October 4, after AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was arrested in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam, Kejriwal promptly reminded us that AAP was a “khattar imandaar” (extremely honest) party. However, this time he notched it up a level by accusing Modi of being the ‘most corrupt Prime Minister India has ever had’. This can be interpreted as AAP feeling the pressure from central agencies and is now trying to deflect the spotlight onto Modi as well; or, it can be seen as AAP digging in its heels and daring the Union government to prove corruption charges levelled against AAP leaders. In the latter case, the Supreme Court’s observations on October 5 while hearing AAP leader and Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s bail plea is a shot in the arm for AAP. 

For AAP, ‘corruption’ is the dirt it can throw at its political opponents and ‘anti-corruption’ is the armour that protects it. It must be seen if this armour is Teflon-coated where the corruption charges against it do not stick. For some time now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and other parties including those now in alliance with AAP in I.N.D.I.A, have been attacking AAP’s ‘khattar imandaar’ image.

The heat BJP is putting on AAP (if one were to see that central agencies are working at the behest of the saffron party) comes as a blessing in disguise for AAP’s I.N.D.I.A allies. If the agencies can maintain (or increase) pressure on AAP leaders in the days and weeks to come, the party would not be able to give its best for the upcoming assembly and general elections. An enfeebled AAP diminishes Kejriwal’s bargaining powers when the allies sit to discuss seat-sharing arrangements.

AAP must fight a two-term anti-incumbency in Delhi, it must live up to the promises it has made in Punjab, it must moderate its expansion plans to resonate with coalition dharma, and vigorously fight to protect its x-factor to remain a credible force in electoral politics.

(Twitter: @VijuCherian)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.