AFTER its rout in the parliamentary elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by maverick Arvind Kejriwal, the party is nursing its wounds and getting ready to spring again. Kejriwal wants to be again at the helm of affairs in Delhi with the slogan ‘Kejriwal Firse’ ( Kejriwal Again). Delhi is slated for a fresh election sooner or later. The AAP campaign will highlight the achievements of its government which had a short and unhappy life. His party claims that its 27 MLAs gave an excellent showing. Kejriwal is promoted on YouTube and via a Twitter handle named @kejriwal firse. But his campaign will impinge on local issues and go to the grassroots. Kejriwal’s party was an offshoot of the Anna Hazare movement. People thought that he had inherited Anna’s idealism. The return of Kejriwal may unfold a different story. He will now go to the enlightened middle class seeking a decent India run on decent lines. His abdication from office was a letdown for them. His thunder has been hijacked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His constituency has been swept into Modi’s fold by the Swachh Bharat broom. Modi promises what Kejriwal had lulled them into believing he stood for. But the Prime Minister’s programme also couples with it efficient government, growth and development.
The AAP now represents unskilled and semi-skilled workers who offered generous donations to his party to acquire a sense of belonging. But Kejriwal’s stand has ceased to carry conviction with the majority of the middle class. The erstwhile standard-bearers no longer care for direct democracy, racism betrayed by AAP minister Somnath Bharti which alienated Africans in a Delhi mahalla and the sight of Kejriwal sitting on a dharna outside Rail Bhavan. Kejriwal wants to ride again but does he make horse sense to the middle class electorate which was his vote bank?
