Delhi Election Results: Lessons From Kejriwal's AAP-Solute Sweep
Arvind Kejriwal's stunning victory in the Delhi assembly elections puts the AAP brand of politics on the centre-stage of the country's political landscape. Analysts are talking of a new brand of politics which could potentially shape the course of election campaigns and outcomes over the next few years. Some of the important lessons to be drawn from Kejriwal's powerful, but low profile campaign are:
• Welfarism works. Arvind Kejriwal's waiver of electricity charges up to 200 units, free water supply, free bus rights for women and free Wi-fi, apart from free pilgrimages for senior citizens, drove his party's campaign in a result-oriented direction.
• AAP's positive campaign focusing on development worked to its advantage. Kejriwal simply refused to get drawn into the controversies swirling around Shaheen Bagh and Jamia protests. AAP leaders kept the focus on bijli, paani, sadak, clinics and schools. He did not try to get into a mode of competitive nationalism to match the BJP leaders on the campaign trail.
• Importantly, Arvind Kejriwal came up with a report card of his achievements which was distributed on a door-to-door basis. The AAP followed it up with a guarantee card of what the Kejriwal-led government hoped to do over the next five years.
• The BJP had much to lose after it upped the ante and raised the stakes for the party in the Delhi elections. In the final analysis, it proved to be at the receiving end.
• The willingness of the Congress to commit hara-kiri to help AAP, as many analysts have suggested, not only bodes ill for the grand old party, but also spells a serious political threat to the BJP.
• However, there are some positive take-aways for the BJP as seen from the February 11 result. While it got 32.3 % vote share in 2015, it managed to get 38.43 % this time around, a significant 6% plus spike. On the other hand. the Congress vote share dropped from 9.7% to 4.27%, a steep decline. The AAP vote share did not register a dramatic change.