http://www.elections.in/blog/can-aap-take-bjps-support-form-government-delhi/

Can AAP take the BJP’s support to form government in Delhi?

By Deepak Parvatiyar

July 25, 2014

Both BJP and AAP should form an alliance to come to power.” This suggestion made by AICC General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed may sound like a typical pot shot at a political rival, but it seems to have a well thought out political overture.

The Congress has a score to settle with the AAP

Understandably, the Congress has to settle the score with the AAP on more than one count. While it owes its disgraceful exit from the political horizon of Delhi largely to the Jhadu or broom (the election symbol of the AAP), it had also been accused of dislodging the AAP government which it had supported from outside, despite the fact that the AAP’s leader Arvind Kejriwal had unilaterally decided to step down as the Delhi chief minister

However, before we look into the (de)merits of the Congress advice, it is worth pointing out that after the fractured mandate in the Assembly polls, the AAP did approach the Congress as well as the BJP for unconditional support to its 18 conditions that could enable it form the government. While the BJP refused to oblige, a desperate Congress, with just eight MLAs, extended its support to the AAP to form the government – till Kejriwal showed an unwarranted haste and quit as the CM in just 49 days over the issue of Jan Lokpal Bill, blaming the Congress for his government’s fall.

Much water has flown down the Yamuna since then. The Lok Sabha elections have proved to be the nemesis of the AAP’s grand ambition of emerging as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress. Its loss at the hustings has shattered many dreams because the AAP was perceived as a party of the common man. It was considered as the next big thing in Indian politics. Its stunning debut in Delhi Assembly election within a year of its formation was considered as a management lesson by the IIMs!

Many may argue that the AAP, because of its inexperience in the cunning world of Machiavellian style of politics, proved to be a sitting duck for its political opponents. Yet, the same inexperience had gone into its favour during the Delhi state elections, where it exceeded all expectations and did a coup of sorts by winning 28 of the 70 seats. A greenhorn was considered free of the sins of decadence!

Over ambition has proved to be Kejriwal’s nemesis

The AAP’s fall may be attributed to its many mistakes, the biggest being Kejriwal’s decision to quit as the CM. His calculations of stepping down on a high moral pedestal to garner public sympathy failed miserably as the opposition parties, both the BJP and the Congress, joined hands to project him as a ‘bhagora’ (one who runs away from responsibilities). The sobriquet stuck to him and he failed miserably in dispelling his escapist image from the public perception.

One may blame it on his inexperience but the intention-action gap too seemingly contributed to Kejriwal’s sudden fall. It has often been debated that how he always swore by his mentor Anna Hazare and yet formed his political outfit against Anna’s wishes. How he talked of the misuse of power by the politicians yet clung to the official residence (what if his party paid the market rent?) after stepping down as the CM. That, how he abused media after posturing as the poster boy of the press not very long ago? That, his government’s steps to provide free water and lower the power tariffs were scuppered too.

That the AAP could win just four Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and drew a blank in its perceived stronghold, Delhi, is a great setback to the party (considering the huge expectations and hype it had generated for itself within a short span and caught the imagination of the whole nation with its holier than thou attitude!). Many of its top leaders lost their deposits.  Kejriwal himself lost to the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi by a huge margin in a battle which was much touted as David versus Goliath’s in Varanasi!

Can we blame Kejriwal alone for the downslide in the AAP’s fortunes?

It is true that many who left the AAP after the poll debacle have squarely blamed Kejriwal’s autocratic style of functioning for the dismal show of the party at the hustings. Its founders Yogendra Yadav and Shazia Ilmi had to be placated to withdraw their resignations after they quit the party.

Of course, Kejriwal’s political ambitions are clear for all to see, yet the very concept of the AAP was rooted in an ideology – of corruption-free governance and empowerment to the common man. History tells us that none of the political outfits with lofty ideals survived for long in politics — whether it was the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party of Acharya Kripalani, or the Swatantra Party of Rajaji, Janata Party of JP or the Lok Satta Party of Jayaprakash Narayan (a retired IAS officer turned political activist in Andhra Pradesh)!

AAP has endorsed the theory of strange bedfellows in coalition politics

Political expediency seems to have gripped the Aam Admi Party too. What else can describe Kejriwal’s flip flop with regard to his earlier stand that the assembly should be dissolved and fresh elections should take place? (It had moved the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s move to keep the Delhi Assembly in suspended animation). After the debacle in the general elections, reports suggested that he even considered a fresh alliance with the Congress to form the government in Delhi!

So, how should the Congress’s latest suggestion for an AAP-BJP alliance be interpreted?

Has the Congress simply indulged into mocking the AAP’s peculiar dilemma on the issue of the government formation in the city state? It is worth mentioning that the AAP since its inception was never considered a full-fledged political entity. The Congress claimed it to be a political front created by the BJP to corner the Muslim votes, the BJP on its turn, claimed it to be the B team of the Congress aimed to confuse the voters – a claim that the BJP sought to substantiate by the Congress support to the AAP government.

The AAP on its part has always made a deliberate attempt to keep a distance from both. Yet it has shown its inclination towards having strange bedfellows and has already succumbed to the temptation once. Will it fall into the trap again?

The Congress will definitely hope that to happen. (The BJP has rejected any such possibility as of now, and the AAP has reiterated its demand for the dissolution of the state Assembly and fresh elections).

WBDP24.07.2014