Is This The Starting Of The Finish For AAP? How Kejriwal’s Hubris Introduced Down His Occasion In Delhi – News18

Final Up to date:February 10, 2025, 08:00 IST

The query now could be whether or not the AAP will be capable of survive the BJP blitzkrieg in Delhi. The celebration is in energy in Punjab, however has by no means sat within the opposition within the nationwide capital. Although it has 43% vote share, many really feel this will…Learn Extra

‘At the very least on this delivery, Narendra Modi can not defeat the Aam Aadmi Occasion in Delhi’ – that is what AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal stated earlier than the Delhi meeting elections. He appears to have gotten a becoming reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP registered a historic victory on Saturday: “Some had the vanity that they owned Delhi, however individuals have proven that they have been the actual homeowners of Delhi.”

It’s this sort of vanity and hubris that introduced in regards to the downfall of Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Occasion (AAP) in Delhi.

However, will the AAP be capable of survive this? It’s in energy in Punjab, however has by no means sat within the opposition in Delhi. Although the celebration has 43 per cent vote share in Delhi, many really feel this can be the start of the tip for it.

THE ARROGANCE AND BLAME GAME

The AAP was born out of public emotion and romanticism to battle corruption, reasonably than a political ideology. The truth is, in 2013, Kejriwal promised he would change the best way politics is perceived on this nation.

It was the ‘aam aadmi’, or the general public, that introduced the AAP to energy in Delhi thrice. However the identical individuals additionally led to its defeat because the celebration deviated from what it promised to be. Kejriwal stated he gained’t take up a home or an enormous automobile, however moved from a Wagon R to an MG Gloster and spent practically Rs 35 crore to renovate the home that he occupied as chief minister.

By most accounts, he additionally turned inaccessible and folks spoke about lengthy convoys of vehicles that accompanied him and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Individuals felt the ‘widespread man CM’ was transferring round like a VIP and dwelling life king measurement.

Then got here his hypocrisy in coping with allegations of corruption towards him or his cupboard. He determined to bully his approach out of the allegations within the alleged Delhi liquor rip-off, reasonably than reside as much as his proclaimed mantra of anti-corruption.

Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia have been jailed within the rip-off, however he first refused to take away Sisodia from the cupboard whereas he was behind bars and shockingly refused to resign from the submit of CM when he went to jail.

This was arguably the primary occasion in India’s political historical past {that a} CM, who had been jailed, selected to run the federal government from behind bars reasonably than hand in his resignation. This is identical man who would, as an activist, demand the resignation of political leaders on the drop of a hat.

Many don’t know, however Delhi doesn’t have a Lokpal, one thing that Kejriwal based mostly his total politics on in 2013. Because the outcomes got here in on counting day, all three huge names who went to jail on corruption fees – Kejriwal, Sisodia and Satyender Jain – misplaced the election.

Inexplicably, Kejriwal determined to resign as soon as he got here out of jail final yr saying he would search a mandate and solely then turn out to be CM. This was a wierd transfer, as individuals hoped his launch would clear up civic points plaguing town, from poor sanitation and roads to extremely poisonous air. The AAP authorities didn’t roll out the cash scheme for girls in 2024 as a result of Kejriwal went to jail – that is how a lot the celebration had turn out to be dominated by its supremo.

Might he not have resigned when he went to jail, in order that one other CM might get the job completed? Atishi turned the CM later, however AAP made it clear that she was solely short-term until Kejriwal was again within the seat after the polls.

However, individuals have been fed up. For a lot of the previous 5 years, the AAP authorities had been in a ‘tu tu foremost foremost’ scenario with the Centre in addition to the L-G, continually complaining that it was not being allowed to work. Whereas some individuals initially might have had sympathy for Kejriwal on that depend, they have been finally left pissed off – the streets weren’t being cleaned, the air would turn out to be unbreathable for 2 to 3 months yearly, and the roads have been in a state of disrepair.

“Governance will not be a nautanki ka manch,” Modi stated after the Delhi victory, taking a swipe on the AAP’s day by day theatrics. He had earlier equated Kejriwal to serial killer and conman Charles Sobhraj.

Kejriwal’s blustering was now not working for the individuals as he began making allegations towards the BJP – from how the celebration was making an attempt to purchase off AAP MLAs to the Haryana authorities intentionally poisoning the Yamuna that involves Delhi, in order to trigger a genocide. These have been seen as diversionary ways, basic blunders and vendetta politics as Haryana can also be his dwelling state.

The very fact is that Delhi is in a nasty form – and this was regardless of the AAP being in energy within the Municipal Company of Delhi (MCD) since 2022. Individuals wished the celebration to battle its political battles, but in addition clear up their issues.

However, they determined that if these can’t be solved, then they need to no less than get to decide on the celebration that may work for them. Briefly, Kejriwal has nobody else responsible for the Delhi debacle, however himself. It’s his vanity and making the AAP a “one-man celebration” that price him and his celebration the nationwide capital. The query to ask is that if Kejriwal can change.

Properly, that is the second problem – will AAP survive this? Kejriwal has tasted energy since he entered politics in 2013. That is the primary time he has tasted defeat in Delhi.

So, will this celebration, which has already seen some huge desertions, merely disintegrate and collapse? A celebration’s actual check comes when it isn’t in energy and the way it retains its flock collectively.

The AAP nonetheless has 43 per cent vote share regardless of the defeat, so all will not be misplaced. Kejriwal was uncharacteristic in his message after the Delhi loss – that the AAP will act as a constructive opposition and proceed to assist individuals in the best way it might probably.

However, the CAG studies on ‘Sheeshmahal’ and the alleged excise rip-off now grasp like a sword over Kejriwal and he might must go to jail once more. The BJP will depart no stone unturned to show the AAP’s alleged corruption, making certain that Kejriwal & Co pay the value.

Kejriwal doesn’t have a pal in Rahul Gandhi and the Congress anymore, given the bitterness between each throughout the Delhi elections. The Congress, the truth is, would love the AAP’s demise in Delhi to present itself a reincarnation. The AAP, in the meantime, might face challenges it could not have imagined – like an existential disaster.

Will Kejriwal now deal with Punjab, the one state the place the AAP is in energy? The reverberations of the Delhi loss will definitely be felt in Punjab as effectively, with the Congress in search of a midterm election if Bhagwant Mann’s flock deserts him.

Is that this the start of the tip for the AAP? We’ll know quickly.