By Albert Thyrniang
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) victory in the Delhi Assembly elections declared on February 11, was comprehensive. In the remarkable triumph the party, launched in 2012, won 62 out of the 70 seats. The mighty Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which employed all the powers at their command and used every trick in the book could win only 8 seats. The Congress was totally decimated with a humiliating zero. Arvind Kejriwal has taken charge as chief minister of the national capital for the third consecutive time.
Debates have been held. A lot of analysis has been done. Political parties might have introspected. Views have been expressed. A consensus has been arrived at. It was the ‘report card’ of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that mainly repelled the BJP. The Kejriwal led party proved true to its name, that is Common Man’s Party to ward off the likes of Prime Minster, Narendra Modi, Home Minister, Amit Shah, UP Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath and the whole army of 40 union ministers (Asian News International-ANI). The voters of Delhi saw the work that the government did in the last five years and gave an overwhelming mandate to the Chief Minister and his party once again.
What is the ‘report card’ of the party that ruled the national capital of Delhi from 2015 (and for 49 days in 2013) look like? It was released on 24th December last year. The ‘report card’, called so because of the similarity to students’ report card, has Education as the top priority with the budget increasing to three times the amount. The next ‘subject’ is Heath and the Delhi government is the only government that allocated 13 per cent of its budget to health concretely establishing 400 Mohalla clinics (Community/primary health centres that offer a basic package of essential health services including medicines, diagnostics, and consultation free of cost) in the state. The third achievement is electricity. Delhi boasts of providing 24×7 electricity to the people besides the 400 unit free electricity. The fourth is ‘Piped Water’ which includes 20,000 litres per household and zero bill for at least 13 lakh household. Other high mark getters are women’s security, public transport, free wifi and door step service delivery.
Kejriwal who listed the achievements asserted that his government delivered on all the promises made in 2015 particularly on education, health, electricity and water, further claiming that this government was, “the most honest government in the country since Independence.”
But how did independent analysts view the Chief Minister’s ‘report card’? What were the results of reality checks? After 5-years did Kejriwal’s government fulfil all the promises?To get an idea let me quote a study by India Today christened The India Today Data Intelligence Unit done on the performance of the AAP’s government. The report which was published on February 7, 2020 says that of the 70 promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party in its 2015 manifesto about 31 percent of the work was completed. The over-all performance score is at 62 per cent. The scores on different indices are Social welfare: 7/9, Education and healthcare: 7/10, Electricity and water: 5.5/11, Transportation: 3/7, Governance: 3/5, Business and employment: 6/9, Justice and women’s safety: 5/7, Rural-urban planning, Waste management, tech and culture: 6.5/12.
Clearly contrary to the claims, APP could not fulfil all the promises. 60 percent of works initiated were pending while 9 percent of the assurances did not even take off. Some of the glaring failures are summarised below. On the social welfare front no peace-keeping committee was set up as promised. In 2018, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had found irregularities in the financial administration of the Capital. On the education front no school was built though 500 new schools were promised. Only the Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University was established though the manifesto promised 20 new degree colleges. In health care not much has improved as according to a World Health Organization report, Delhi has only 2.9 beds per 1,000 people. In electricity and water out of out of 11 projects only two have been completed. Transportation secured only 3 out of 7. On justice and women’s safety AAP government could deploy only 5,500 former home guards as marshals in buses as against 10,000 promised.SIT probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots was never set up despite Supreme Court’s approval. APP promised one public library in every assembly constituency but managed just 8. Two lakh community toilets were to come up but only 22,000 of them were built. So, in short the AAP government could not deliver a 100 per cent success on its promises. However, the very fact that a ‘report card’ was presented, must be complimented. It was open to public scrutiny. Concrete work was seen on the ground. Surely to return with so massive a victory as to leave the present opposition in the house almost negligible shows that the performance was certainly not unsatisfactory. APP’s campaign was purely based on the work they have done and the work they further intend to do. There was no rhetoric, no accusations against opponents. The focus was on education, health care, water, electricity, security and the like.
The ‘report card’ kept the rhetorical, dramatic and muscular Modi at bay. Amit Shah’s provocative and communal ‘make Shaheen Bagh protesters run away’ ‘tukde-tukde’ gang, ‘Ram Mandir’ speeches did not pay dividends. MP Parvesh Verma’s hate tirade at ShaheenBagh protesters calling them “rapists and murderers” had negative impact as all 10 seats in his Lok Sabha constituency went to the rivals. Union minister of state Anurag Thakur’s inflammatory statements such as ‘traitors of the country, shoot them all’ (anti-CAA protesters) was punished by the voters. The provocative statements of Yogi Adityanath who said, “those who don’t understand words, will surely understand the language of the bullet,” was taught a lesson. Minister Prakash Javadekar’s disgusting remark, ‘Arvind Kejriwal a terrorist, made no difference.
APP withstood the BJP’s communal, polarised, hate, divisive, artificial patriotism and dirty campaign. The 62.59% of voters rejected BJP’s negative politics outright. The Delhi results came amid the anti-CAA, NRC and NPR protests that have gripped the nation since December last year. Had the BJP won, the country would have been in for more chaos as protests and agitations against controversial actions of the government could have been suppressed more forcefully and brutally. The results provide an opportunity for the ‘Lotus’ party to reflect and rule this ‘largest democracy in the world’ more humanely promoting democratic values, tolerance, unity and appreciating diversity of culture, religion, language, race and region. Delhi has indicated that CAA, NRC and NPR are unpopular. Hence the saffron party could do well to do a rethink. Delhi has set a bench mark for future elections. The focus of elections should be on social, political, economic and environmental challenges like religious harmony, employment, hygiene and sanitation, pollution, women’s safety, corruption, illiteracy, education, healthcare, poverty, infrastructure of all kinds and numerous others. Delhi has given a model – win election on the strength of performance and governance.
One has doubts whether the Delhi model will work. A recap of the 2019 parliamentary election unpleasantly recalls that the present NDA’s landslide victory was not on the performance plank but on communalism, polarisation and heightened nationalism. Every promise was broken, the economy was in bad shape, unemployment was at an all-time low, intolerance was on the rise but still Narendra Modi won with a record mandate. Bihar in October this year will test whether the Kejriwal or the Modi model will work. West Bengal in April-May next year will follow suit.
The danger of undoing Delhi is still very real. Even Kejriwal did not depend entirely on his ‘report card’ to win. He cunningly played soft Hindutva and Hanuman cards (allegedly he has the RSS backing). He avoided speaking on secularism. Secularism has become a liability rather than an asset. Wearing secularism on one’s sleeves is no more a pride. This is what the BJP/RSS want. Before he filed his nomination papers he held a road show from Valmiki Mandir to Hanuman Mandir. After crashing the BJP he proceeded to Hanuman Mandir to offer prayers. Earlier the Delhi Chief Minister supported CAA, abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, has never voiced his concern against the hostile situation in the state and never spoke for the minorities who face government’s onslaught due to the discriminatory CAA and other executive actions.
This does not take away any credit from the second youngest Chief Minister of Delhi (2013). The huge electoral win is no mean feat. Will the Prime Minister or any Chief Minister emulate the example set by the mechanical engineer who emerged from the ‘India Against Corruption’ movement in 2012? Will report cards be published before every election on which basis the voters are invited to exercise their franchise? The present Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA)government does not even have a Common Minimum Programme. On what basis will it prepare its report card in less than four years?