A political model that just fell apart

A section of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders had seen the writing on the wall long before February 8 results declared a resounding victory and comeback for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Speaking on condition of anonymity, they had told Open that of the dream that was AAP, which emerged as a political entity in 2012 from within the anti-corruption campaign led by Anna Hazare in the previous year, what it had now become was an excuse for alternative politics. “Our slogans aren’t clicking with the people the way they used to do,” one of them had said.

The sentiment among the people who had voted for the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP was similar because many of them, who spoke shortly before the February 5 election, had said they were worried about unkept promises that include better roads and flyovers, regular garbage clearing mechanism, full statehood for Delhi, improved sanitation, piped water collection in slum areas, clean Yamuna, and so on.

AAP’s reliance on theatrics and freebies has lost its sting as the megapolis’s residents craved much more than 200 units of free electricity, 20,000-litre free water, free bus rides for women, and myriad other free schemes, especially in education – they didn’t want to be deprived of the infrastructure required for leading a dignified life.

While such schemes made an impact in the 2015 and 2020 elections, this time around a fatigue had set in with people arguing that the promise of more jobs, and a better secondary and tertiary healthcare remained mere promises. Open had reported earlier that Delhi spends relatively less on infrastructure, especially its roads. For instance, while all states spent around 4.6% of their total expenditure on roads and bridges in 2023-24, for Delhi the figure stays at 2.6% in 2024-25.

A tour of Sangam Vihar, an unauthorised colony with crumbling civic infrastruc­ture, during the poll campaign was proof that the mood of the people had changed from 2020 and that they wanted much more than subsidies and expected their government to dole out more than lollies.

When Kejriwal made his electoral foray in the 2013 election, he was seen as a breakaway from the usual mould of politicians and his open displays of pro-poor politics and populism captured the public imagination. AAP was also looked up to as a party that encouraged political entrepreneurship by lowering entry barriers to aid the common man. But the model – built on mere populism and disregard for development along with zero ideological base – began to sully its image. The change in perception was swift thanks to a plethora of factors, including corruption scandals that landed Kejriwal and his close associates in jail. Excessive spending on unnecessary matters also brought disrepute, promptly alienating the middle classes from the party. The aspiring working classes too ached for change and preferred a party that had more power and resources at their disposal to improve their lives.

Earlier, while successive governments and parties had tried their hand at populism, AAP’s falling back fully on such measures was new in Indian politics. And there were adverse effects: the government didn’t have money to spend on other things, most importantly sanitation and waste management. Interestingly, a 2021 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) discovered that Delhi’s subsidies had skyrocketed by 92% between 2015-16 and 2019-20.

The hope among people was high to start with. AAP had won two consecutive elections in Delhi, first in 2015, securing 67 of 70 seats and in 2020 with 62 of 70 seats in the As­sembly. Before that, AAP, founded in November 2012, became Delhi’s second-largest party in its electoral debut in 2013 by win­ning 28 seats. Its founder Arvind Kejriwal became chief minister with Congress’ support to keep BJP, which had won 31 seats, away, but resigned after 49 days in power protesting against Congress’ refusal to back the Jan Lokpal Bill.

But with Delhi’s financial health deteriorating at a fast pace and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aggressively taking on AAP, people were beginning to think differently of AAP’s model of governance, and its strident opposition of the ruling party at the Centre. With Delhi being a quasi-state with many crucial decisions landing on the desk of the Lieutenant Governor who reports to the federal government, Delhi residents had begun to feel that it was perhaps better for them to have a state government with friendly ties towards the Centre. The slogan that there was nothing ‘Aam’ about the Aam Aadmi Party also forced people to veer away from mere rhetoric this time.

That this was a victory foretold was obvious in the pronouncement on the floor of the House by an AAP lawmaker in the Rajya Sabha who said he wouldn’t press for amendments to the Union Budget presented recently because, he said, he was convinced of the merit of the proposals in the document after listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech. It was perhaps a frank admission that AAP’s political model was falling apart.

Aam Aadmi PartyArvind KejriwalDelhi Assembly Election 2025Development Modelelectoral populismIndian politicsNarendra ModiWeb Exclusive