Daily Times

The Delhi Assembly electorate in India has voted Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) back to the government with a huge mandate as it won 62 seats in the 70-member House. Though the number is short of five seats from its previous its win in 2015, the second consecutive win, based on local issues, against Bharatiya Janata Party’s horrible religious fanaticism, is spectacular. The party braved a bitter campaign, led by big guns, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, and only conceded eight seats to the BJP. The victory speech of Arvind Kejriwal sets the agenda: “The people of Delhi have given birth to a new kind of politics – the politics of work. This is a vote for those who build schools, who provide electricity and healthcare. This augurs well for the country.”

The public has endorsed his policies for a second time. All along the way, Arvind Kejriwal has turned up a strong face to defeat BJP’s religious, hate-filled nationalist cause. Other than the ideological front, AAP has worked well for improving access to education, health care, potable water and transport for Delhi’s poorest and most deserving people. In a way, AAP’s victory is not just a defeat of BJP’s Hindutva ideology, it is also a win for AAP’s pro-poor people style of governance. Since its staller victory in the national election in 2019, BJP has faced a flurry of defeats in state elections. At the national level, the religious hysteria created by the Modi group worked well but in Indian state elections, it seems governance matters more. In the Delhi election too, the BJP tried to play up the toxic religious polarisation card and was trounced by the voters.

The Delhi Assembly elections leave a trail of lessons for Modi Sarkar. To break this streak of electoral blows, BJP will have to shun its Hindutva-focused politics and take a turn towards good governance. Since its second term, India has been on an economic downturn. Secondly, it needs to work on its attitude towards Muslims. Thirdly, it needs to shun its war-centric policies against Pakistan. Its lavish spending on an arsenal buildup will not guarantee its next win in the elections. Good governance comes when resources are spent on the public, not on arms. Moreover, it should withdraw annexation of India-held Kashmir and the controversial citizenship law. *