THE Aam Adami Party (AAP) has covered itself in glory in the recent Delhi Assembly elections. It was close behind the winner, the BJP, toppling the Congress which had been in power for three terms. Arvind Kejiriwal, AAP leader beat former chief minister Sheila Dikshit hands down. Thus a new idea has prevailed in Indian politics. So far money power and influence called the shots in elections. The AAP has shown the prospects of newcomers. In the past, the TDP, the AGP and the TMC asserted their position at their entry. A single individual in the AAP has played a decisive role. The AAP is not a breakaway faction unlike the other new parties. The media helped it and the party cashed in on the impatience of voters with the unsatisfactory status quo. The new party will have no truck with any other party in the hung assembly. It will however prove its presence in legislative proceedings. The AAP’s guns will be trained on corruption and political centralism. It has made tall promises on power tariffs, water and sanitation. But it will have to contend with a period of political uncertainty in achieving its targets.
Its remarkable success signifies its rise to a national presence. The AAP may now be expected to stretch its arms into other regions of the country. However, what impact it will have on elections elsewhere is shrouded in uncertainty. The Lokpal agitation fizzled out after the brouhaha. Delhi was a favourable territory for the march of the AAP. Elections elsewhere will be complicated by such tricky factors as caste, community and other identity issues coupled with local interests. The AAP should not be power-hungry and stick to its ideological commitments in Delhi and other parts of the country.
