One Month Of Kejriwal’s AAP Government

By Deepak Parvatiyar

March 18, 2015

We need to analyse the first month of the Aam Aadmi Party government in the office on two counts—governance and politicking.

There goes the saying that well begun is half done. However the AAP has perceptibly started on a shaky note in its second innings as the ruling party. Last time, its minority government had lasted just 49 days. This time it has absolute majority but with a quirk of fate, the first month of its government in Delhi saw an indisposed chief minister, sleaze, stings and internal sabotage!

In sum, it has been an eventful one month ever since Kejriwal swore in as Delhi’s CM at a public function in Ramlila Maidan on the St. Valentine’s Day this year.

Strange it may sound but throughout the first month of the AAP government, Kejriwal remained a non-resident CM, staying at his wife’s official residence at Kaushambi in Ghaziabad district of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. So much so that even his much touted Janata Darbars —  an example of Kejriwal’s knack for playing to the gallery — were organised near his residence in Uttar Pradesh.

Remember Kejriwal’s attempt to organise a Janata Darbar in front of the Delhi secretariat during his first stint as CM last year had ended in a huge fiasco? This time his Janata Darbars are less chaotic and the credit should go to the UP administration for this. In hindsight, isn’t this a classic example of cooperative federalism? (Also consider that it was Kejriwal’s bête noir Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had prescribed him to undergo naturopathy treatment and suggested him to go to Bengaluru).

That it is taking more than a month for the chief minister to get a house for himself in his state does reflect poorly on his administration and sense of urgency. It is perhaps the only time in the history of the country that the CM of a state has resided outside his state even after a month of assuming office.

Blame it on his ill health that the CM remained absent from the office for ten out of the 30 days of his government,  undergoing treatment for chronic cough and high blood sugar at a naturopathy centre in distant Bengaluru.

For all practical purposes, it was Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, who held the fort for the government in the last ten days of the first month of the AAP rule in Delhi. In the process, the latter proved himself to be the Man Friday of the AAP Supremo, Kejriwal.  The CM used to call him at least once a day while recuperating in Bengaluru.

However, unlike Sisodia, the first one month proved that  not many in the AAP were prepared to be remote controlled by Kejriwal and that already the party was drawn into a full-fledged bitter faction war.

The way the Kejriwal loyalists manoeuvred to remove top party leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the party’s political affairs committee just before Kejriwal’s departure to Bengaluru was reminiscent of H.D. Deve Gowda ejecting his arch rival (late) Ramakrishna Hegde from the party soon after becoming the Prime Minister in the mid-nineties.

Both Yadav and Bhushan – co founders and important leaders of the AAP – were accused of sabotaging the AAP bandwagon during the elections – a charge that both vehemently denied. Yet they were left fending for themselves till Kejriwal returned from Bengaluru to signal a thaw in their relationship. Obviously in the game of one-upmanship within the ruling party of Delhi, Kejriwal reasserted his dominance in style. In true Machiavellian style, he took an about turn (not for the first time in his short political career) to yield to Yadav’s plea that the AAP should expand its base and go national. This was a marked departure from his stand that he took barely a week earlier, when he said “I fight a lot in my party when people say ‘we have won Delhi so we can win elsewhere too’. I am not Napoleon who has entered to win…”  Yet none can dismiss his soaring political ambitions (http://www.elections.in/blog/is-punjab-the-next-destination-for-aap/).

In the first month of the AAP’s government therefore, it was only but natural for an ambitious new party that tasted success early, to witness conspiracies and stings. They galore and to Kejriwal’s credit, he moved quickly to nip them in bud. While he promptly tackled the Yadav and Bhushan factor, he moved decisively to suspend former party MLA Rajesh Garg from the primary membership of the party after the latter accused him of trying to poach six Congress MLAs to form government  last year when after Kejriwal’s resignation, the state assembly was kept in suspended animation. Garg was earlier denied the party ticket this elections. The Congress’s video tapes of Kejriwal luring its MLAs too surfaced but it was already late by then as Kejriwal was now firmly in saddle in Delhi.

As it is clear, there was much politicking around in the first month of the AAP government in Delhi.

On the front of governance too, as deputy chief minister Sisodia told a news television channel, infighting as well as Kejriwal’s absence “impacted” government work.

Yet, at least a couple of decisions of the Kejriwal government did go well with the people — a 50 per cent subsidy on monthly power consumption of up to 400 units and 20,000 litres of free water per month to all households. The promise to deduct electricity bill by half and giving free water was made in the AAP’s election manifesto and that the government could upkeep these promises in about ten days of coming to power did held it in good stead with its electorate. A survey on the one month of AAP rule by a private news television channel showed 49 per cent respondents saying that the government had performed well in its first month. Only nine per cent rated the performance of the government as bad.

The government is yet to move forward on the issue of Lokpal Bill – over which it had quit last time. Sisodia has claimed that it would be introduced in the Budget session. Yet on another contentious issue of women’s safety, which had topped the agendas of all political parties, there is no deployment yet of marshals in buses from 6 pm to midnight as was promised.

One month though is too little a time to judge any government. Given that the AAP manifesto comprised 70-point agenda that ran into 42 pages, to accomplish all its goals, is indeed a tall order for the government. It not only requires a political will, but also concentrated and focused approach.

Remember during his oath-taking ceremony on February 14, Kejriwal had said – “I have decided …I will remain in Delhi for (the next) five years to serve only the people of Delhi and try to discharge my responsibilities with the best of my ability.”

But can he stick to his words given the fast changing dynamics within his own party and his own expansionist outlook? After all, as we earlier wrote in these columns (http://www.elections.in/blog/is-punjab-the-next-destination-for-aap/), why should he be contented being a small single city leader? As of today, his journey is only a month old and he does have miles to go!