The Aam Aadmi Party suffered a crushing defeat in Delhi’s municipal elections last week. From winning a whopping 95% of seats in the last assembly election, it could only manage around 15% of seats this time.
What on earth happened? And what does all this mean for AAP?
AAP also lost in Goa and Punjab recently, but those were first-time attempts at state elections. However, the Delhi loss is brutal. For Delhi is the one state that gave birth to AAP and showered it with love. If even Delhi does not want AAP, it is rudderless. They still have several years of their term left, but the moral mandate to rule is gone somewhat. At the moment, AAP cannot win anywhere in India, a deep pit to climb out of. It is a big setback for a party seeking a national footprint and whose leader harbours prime ministerial ambitions in 2019.
Ironically, the seeds of the 2017 disaster were laid in the preparation for the last assembly election. It is then that AAP diluted its key attraction — “a party that makes good people win elections.”
Good people have always existed in India. It is just rare that they win elections. AAP managed to do it upon its formation, when it won 28 out of 70 seats in Delhi. Dramatic resignations and apologies followed.
To win in 2014, however, Arvind invited people that weren’t good. Many were ex-politicians with dodgy credentials. Perhaps he felt idealism can only get the party so far. Co-founders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were shown the door. Perhaps they were just ‘too good’ to win elections the way Arvind wanted. AAP also made fake promises to voters, something a good party would not do. But you got to do what it takes to win, right? Well, Arvind was proven right. He won big. But he also lost something AAP never recovered from.
From being a party of good people, it became a party that’s ‘less bad’ than the others. Of course, in the flush of victory, this change in AAP’s moral fabric was not considered a big deal. Gone were the bright students and MNC executives who gave up careers to work for AAP. Volunteers who wanted political careers replaced volunteers who worked for it to do good for society. In other words, AAP became like any other political party. The aim, from this point on, was just to win, win and win elections.
AAP focused on Punjab, where it found pockets of support. It decided to take on BJP and Modi by filling the vacuum created by a frail Congress. The political strategy wasn’t wrong as such. However, in all this, AAP ignored one thing. It ignored Delhi. It ignored the people who brought it into power in the first place. As a new party, it had no track record in governance. Hence, Delhi’s governance wasn’t just relevant for Delhiites, but also for the rest of India who would judge if AAP could rule.
However, AAP didn’t rule. It whined. And then it whined some more. It blamed the L-G on a daily basis, the PM on a weekly basis, the MCD a few times a month and the Delhi Police whenever it felt like it. Yes, India is a complicated place. Each government arm is linked to another, and no one person has absolute power. Yet, to blame others ALL THE TIME is an attitude, something voters got wind of very soon.
AAP was born out of protest. A genuine protest is when someone supposed to be doing his job is being incompetent or unfair. A genuine protest made on behalf of those who suffer, wins sympathy and support. However, complaining when you are in charge but not doing your work is not protest. It is whining. And that is what AAP did instead of governing Delhi. Perhaps if Arvind had worked to win a few best CM awards, he would have had a different aura today, instead of being seen as the guy who blames Modi if his flush doesn’t work in the morning.
Arvind can still make AAP recover, provided he can get from whine to work mode. Credibility takes decades to build. What is the big hurry to be PM anyway? Isn’t the CM bungalow comfortable enough?
As AAP whined about others, it also adopted dodgy practices such as abusing state funds for national party ads and fighting the CM’s cases. In the age of cheap mobile data, such actions don’t remain hidden. The rapid rise and fall of AAP tells us about the rapid flow of information to the voters these days.
AAP has to figure out what it wants to be. If all it has to offer is a whinier version of existing political parties, it won’t go far. If it can again place a premium on good people, work and building credibility, it could still have a future in India.
Make no mistake, AAP did change Indian politics. Before it became dirty itself, it did help clean up politics somewhat. It will always deserve that credit. And whatever happens to it, there’s a lesson in it for all of us. In your own life, stay good, whine less, and work more.
What on earth happened? And what does all this mean for AAP?
AAP also lost in Goa and Punjab recently, but those were first-time attempts at state elections. However, the Delhi loss is brutal. For Delhi is the one state that gave birth to AAP and showered it with love. If even Delhi does not want AAP, it is rudderless. They still have several years of their term left, but the moral mandate to rule is gone somewhat. At the moment, AAP cannot win anywhere in India, a deep pit to climb out of. It is a big setback for a party seeking a national footprint and whose leader harbours prime ministerial ambitions in 2019.
Ironically, the seeds of the 2017 disaster were laid in the preparation for the last assembly election. It is then that AAP diluted its key attraction — “a party that makes good people win elections.”
Good people have always existed in India. It is just rare that they win elections. AAP managed to do it upon its formation, when it won 28 out of 70 seats in Delhi. Dramatic resignations and apologies followed.
To win in 2014, however, Arvind invited people that weren’t good. Many were ex-politicians with dodgy credentials. Perhaps he felt idealism can only get the party so far. Co-founders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were shown the door. Perhaps they were just ‘too good’ to win elections the way Arvind wanted. AAP also made fake promises to voters, something a good party would not do. But you got to do what it takes to win, right? Well, Arvind was proven right. He won big. But he also lost something AAP never recovered from.
From being a party of good people, it became a party that’s ‘less bad’ than the others. Of course, in the flush of victory, this change in AAP’s moral fabric was not considered a big deal. Gone were the bright students and MNC executives who gave up careers to work for AAP. Volunteers who wanted political careers replaced volunteers who worked for it to do good for society. In other words, AAP became like any other political party. The aim, from this point on, was just to win, win and win elections.
AAP focused on Punjab, where it found pockets of support. It decided to take on BJP and Modi by filling the vacuum created by a frail Congress. The political strategy wasn’t wrong as such. However, in all this, AAP ignored one thing. It ignored Delhi. It ignored the people who brought it into power in the first place. As a new party, it had no track record in governance. Hence, Delhi’s governance wasn’t just relevant for Delhiites, but also for the rest of India who would judge if AAP could rule.
However, AAP didn’t rule. It whined. And then it whined some more. It blamed the L-G on a daily basis, the PM on a weekly basis, the MCD a few times a month and the Delhi Police whenever it felt like it. Yes, India is a complicated place. Each government arm is linked to another, and no one person has absolute power. Yet, to blame others ALL THE TIME is an attitude, something voters got wind of very soon.
AAP was born out of protest. A genuine protest is when someone supposed to be doing his job is being incompetent or unfair. A genuine protest made on behalf of those who suffer, wins sympathy and support. However, complaining when you are in charge but not doing your work is not protest. It is whining. And that is what AAP did instead of governing Delhi. Perhaps if Arvind had worked to win a few best CM awards, he would have had a different aura today, instead of being seen as the guy who blames Modi if his flush doesn’t work in the morning.
Arvind can still make AAP recover, provided he can get from whine to work mode. Credibility takes decades to build. What is the big hurry to be PM anyway? Isn’t the CM bungalow comfortable enough?
As AAP whined about others, it also adopted dodgy practices such as abusing state funds for national party ads and fighting the CM’s cases. In the age of cheap mobile data, such actions don’t remain hidden. The rapid rise and fall of AAP tells us about the rapid flow of information to the voters these days.
AAP has to figure out what it wants to be. If all it has to offer is a whinier version of existing political parties, it won’t go far. If it can again place a premium on good people, work and building credibility, it could still have a future in India.
Make no mistake, AAP did change Indian politics. Before it became dirty itself, it did help clean up politics somewhat. It will always deserve that credit. And whatever happens to it, there’s a lesson in it for all of us. In your own life, stay good, whine less, and work more.