From almost the first day in office, Kejriwal did not work within the limitations of the powers that were vested in his office under law
Kejriwal’s high-handedness and open co-option of loyalists into a close circle of associates also continued to alienate one senior leader after another – including ministers
Arrogance and the sense that he was invincible cost Arvind Kejriwal not just the majority for the Aam Aadmi Party but also his own legislative Assembly seat, which he won thrice in the past since 2013.
He and the party also paid the price because complacency set in after the party weathered any possible anti-incumbent sentiment in 2020 following the first five-year stint in office.
Kejriwal made the mistake of assuming that the initiatives taken in the first two tenures, the short 49-day stay in office in 2013-14 and the second term from 2015, were adequate facilitators to keep winning elections, one after another.
Freebies not enough
True, free electricity and water up to a specific limit, besides the creditable initiatives in the education and health sector, were commendable. But it was wrong to continually try ‘milking’ these schemes and believe nothing else was needed.
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The voters did not think that way and instead expected him to keep addressing additional requirements and improving other facilities that were still deficient. This was particularly true after the AAP secured the Municipal Council of Delhi in December 2022.
Kejriwal forgot the adage that is constantly reiterated for every profession – you are always known by the quality of the last assignment, by the last service provided.
Bit like Modi, but..
Quite often, resembling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's temperament, Kejriwal reiterated only the old schemes he introduced. He forgot, however, that while never failing to mention what he did in the past ceaselessly, Modi always keeps introducing new programmes and schemes regardless of their efficacy and at least in the name.
Kejriwal also forgot his political roots, that the AAP emerged from the ‘India Against Corruption’ campaign, which spoke about the necessity for alternative politics and was run on totally democratic or collegial lines.
Bodies became ineffective
Within months of emerging as a political leader of significance in December 2013, almost every decision-making body within the AAP was rendered ineffective, and he began making unilaterally taken ‘decisions’ known publicly.
Senior colleagues often heard ‘decisions’ from a statement made by Kejriwal on television. This became the norm from almost his first day in office.
Over-centralisation of the decision-making process led to a stream of desertions by eminent people and also the not-so-well-known personalities, who had hoped to be seen in the AAP as a true ‘party with a difference.’
Discussion: Is it the end of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP?
Desertions rocked AAP even on poll eve
The departures, which started in 2013, did not end till the last day, as the recent exit of eight leaders who were denied a party nomination in this election.
It is true that many of these may have left for opportunistic reasons, but this only highlights that Kejriwal admitted several people who did not join the party because of their commitment to its principles. Instead, they joined because they saw the AAP as a vehicle for political advancement.
Coterie politics also a factor
Kejriwal’s high-handedness and open co-option of loyalists into a close circle of associates also continued to alienate one senior leader after another – including ministers.
But, he interpreted his party’s re-election in 2020, also with stunning majority (62 seats out of a total of 70), as evidence of public endorsement of his non-consensual ways.
Deviation from core principles
In time, he began violating principles that had been the party’s core beliefs. The ‘necessities’ of being in politics were cited to explain why he bent the rules. Of these instances, the state government’s liquor policy, allegedly to fund the party’s expansion to other states during Assembly elections, came back to bite him viciously.
Pale image of what it was
It did not take much time before the party which promised to usher in alternative politics, began looking like a pale image of any other party. The leader, too, appeared to be no different from those who controlled the steering wheel.
The time had to come when people veered around to conclude that if Kejriwal was being like the other elders, why not vote for the ‘original’ and not the ‘imitation’? At least, the CM would not keep extending ‘excuses’ that the Lieutenant Governor was not permitting him to function and blocked all his orders.
From almost the first day in office, Kejriwal did not work within the limitations of the powers that were vested in his office under law. Either willingly or due to lack of knowledge, he did not remain within the boundaries that the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1992 had set for the city-state’s Chief Minister.
Even in his first 49-day extended stay in office, Kejriwal worked with the assumption that he had the same powers as chief ministers of other states.
Clashes with Lt Governors
Unwilling to learn from the manner in which his predecessors went about delivering services to the people of Delhi, Kejriwal was constantly at loggerheads, even with the Lieutenant Governors who did not follow any political mandate, as the present incumbent did on numerous occasions after assuming office in May 2022.
Kejriwal also always looked at Delhi as a springboard to national politics. No sooner did he fail to push through the introduction and passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in February 2014, he resigned with little or no consultation within the party.
Baffling political moves
Even as his decision left party workers and supporters stunned, he announced the decision to contest from Varanasi against Narendra Modi.
Last year, when he resigned as Chief Minister once again after being legally prevented from attending office, he looked at moving to the national Opposition space.
In the course of this campaign, there were evidences of supporters drifting away, which resulted in a loss of almost 10% in the party’s vote share.This was an election that the Bharatiya Janata Party did not ‘win’ but one that Kejriwal ‘lost’ due to his ways.
Analysis: What led to Kejriwal's loss?
The question is whether the AAP can recover and make a political comeback. But, before the question can be taken up, there are two distinct developments: Further legal travails in the cases against him – and maybe fresh accusations against him, and the BJP’s attempts to split the party, its legislative wing as well as the organisational flank – may even wean away a few parliamentarians.
Need to mend his ways
Kejriwal would be able to combat these efforts only if he mends his ways and becomes more amiable, and simultaneously displays a willingness to be consensual in his work style within his party as well as with other Opposition parties. He must accept that this defeat of the AAP will impact not just him but also his party.
Instead, because it has almost wholly enabled Modi and the BJP to recover from the setback in the last Parliamentary polls, this loss is the entire Opposition’s, even though only Kejriwal is responsible for it. And, he must begin to start making amends in the little time that BJP and the Centre will now leave him with.
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