10 years of AAP in Delhi: Kejriwal’s decisions that dimmed the shine of Brand AK-BY- Kumar Bahukhandi

How did Kejriwal lose in Delhi?

After being in power in Delhi for 10 consecutive years, Arvind Kejriwal has now been ousted from power by the people. During the last two terms, Kejriwal had projected himself as a ‘radical honest’ leader but now this image has been damaged

The Aam Aadmi Party, which has been in power for three consecutive terms in Delhi, has faced defeat in this assembly election. AAP, which emerged from the Anna movement, came to power in Delhi in 2013 with its entry into electoral politics. After this, Brand Kejriwal kept getting stronger in Delhi by winning a historic 67 seats in 2015 and 62 seats in 2020. Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal projected himself as a staunch honest leader and this move proved to be effective too, although at the end of the second term, corruption allegations against the top leaders of the party damaged this image and the story of AAP’s defeat was written with Arvind Kejriwal going to jail just before the elections.

Jail on corruption charges

The imprisonment of Satyendra Jain, Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal on charges of liquor scam and money laundering changed the election. Earlier it was believed that Kejriwal, who resigned after returning from jail, would cash in on this issue in the election, because he had made Atishi the Chief Minister of Delhi just before the election, so that he could contest the election with a clean image. However, BJP cashed in on this issue during the campaign and projected Kejriwal’s image of ‘hardcore honest’ as ‘hardcore dishonest’. Kejriwal also left the decision of his image to the public during the election campaign and said that if we are honest, then make us win and send us to the assembly. But later people lost faith.

One of the reasons for public outrage is Kejriwal’s continued stay on the post of Delhi’s Chief Minister despite all the allegations of corruption against him. Kejriwal did not resign from the post of CM even after spending more than 150 days in jail and even when he resigned, he himself had decided his name for the post of CM in the next election. Announcing his resignation from the post of Chief Minister, he made Atishi the CM just before the election and Atishi also kept calling herself the temporary CM so that Kejriwal’s claim on the post remains strong.

Anger over liquor shops

Apart from the allegations of corruption on the leaders and the jail, the issue of liquor sale in Delhi also had a big impact among the public. Especially women showed anger over liquor shops. We also spoke to voters in every assembly of the capital, where anger over liquor shops was clearly visible among the people. BJP also targeted the Kejriwal government fiercely on the issue of liquor and accused them of making the youth addicted to drugs. This issue also worked to damage Kejriwal’s image in the election.

BJP capitalized on the issue of ‘Sheeshmahal’

The issue of ‘Sheeshmahal’ was also raised loudly by the BJP in the elections. The party alleged that when the people of Delhi were facing the deadly wave of Corona, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was getting curtains worth crores installed in his government residence. The issue of ‘Sheeshmahal’ damaged Kejriwal’s ‘aam aadmi’ image and the BJP also continuously raised this issue among the public during the elections. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking in Parliament a day before the elections, had said without naming anyone that nowadays the focus of some leaders is on getting Jacuzzi and stylish showers made in homes, but our focus is on providing water to every home.

Alleged assault on Swati Maliwal

The alleged assault on the party’s female MP Swati Maliwal at the Chief Minister’s residence can also be held responsible for AAP’s defeat in the elections. Swati Maliwal had directly accused Kejriwal of getting her assaulted and she kept raising this issue even during the elections, while Kejriwal himself never spoke openly on this issue. BJP also grabbed this issue and propagated Kejriwal as anti-women. After the results, Swati Maliwal has called it a defeat of Kejriwal’s arrogance.

Old comrades left the party

The rebellion of Kejriwal’s old comrades like Swati Maliwal and Kailash Gehlot also became a problem for the party in the elections. Some MLAs of the party joined BJP just before the elections and caused damage to AAP. The separation of movement comrades Prashant Bhushan, Kumar Vishwas and Yogendra Yadav from the party also raises questions on Kejriwal’s working style. Kumar Vishwas also spoke on the election results and said that Kejriwal has crushed the dreams of crores of workers to fulfill his personal ambitions.

Apart from the anti-incumbency wave, Kejriwal had to face defeat due to all these issues. The public’s anger against AAP was such that BJP’s Pravesh Verma defeated Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi assembly seat by about 4 thousand votes. Apart from this, former ministers Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia, who went to jail, also lost the election from their respective seats. Senior leaders like Saurabh Bhardwaj and Somnath Bharti, who were ministers in the AAP government, also had to face defeat this time.

In the results of Delhi, BJP has won 48 out of 70 assembly seats, while Aam Aadmi Party has been reduced to 22 seats. At the same time, Congress, which has lost its name in Delhi, has not won a single seat for the third consecutive time. Now everyone’s eyes are on the name of the next CM of Delhi because BJP contested this election without announcing a CM candidate.