Year Ender 2022 – Arvind Kejriwal
– Photo : Agency (File Photo)
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In the year 2022 (Year Ender 2022), many dreams of Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party came true. The Aam Aadmi Party formed in November 2012 achieved the distinction of becoming a national level party in the 10th year of its formation. This will strengthen Arvind Kejriwal’s dream of playing a role in national politics and he will be able to make a better claim in 2024. But this year has also pointed out some major weaknesses of the Aam Aadmi Party. If he does not get rid of these weaknesses, then his future may also be eclipsed.
The Aam Aadmi Party achieved great success in the beginning of the year itself. The party also established a formidable hold on Punjab outside Delhi and forced political pundits to reconsider their assessment of themselves. The Delhi model of the party appeared to be successful in Punjab as well. It won 92 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, trounching the Congress, the Akali Dal and the BJP.
At the end of the year, the party won the elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi with an absolute majority. AAP won 134 seats in the 250-seat municipal corporation, while the BJP, which was in power for 15 years, was reduced to only 104 seats. This has strengthened the hold of the Aam Aadmi Party on Delhi. Now Arvind Kejriwal can change Delhi as per his wish.
opportunity to act
Kejriwal has been claiming to make Delhi better like Singapore and Paris. Now that they have complete control over both the Delhi government and the municipal corporation, they may well implement their model. If indeed he succeeds in giving a better shape to Delhi, it will give national shine to his developmental model and strengthen the national prospects of the Aam Aadmi Party. But failure in this will tarnish his image and increase the risk of Kejriwal being confined to Delhi-Punjab.
These big weaknesses came to the fore
Now the major weaknesses of the Aam Aadmi Party are coming to the fore. The Aam Aadmi Party has so far been moving forward only on the strength of free electricity-water and better education-health model. But the assembly election results of Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Goa have shown that this issue has not proved to be as effective among the people as it was expected. Even after making big claims in the Gujarat assembly elections, the party could not cross five seats and Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh showed that it has no big reason to win the hearts of the people.
Political analyst Sunil Pandey told Amar Ujala that social base is the ‘lifeblood’ of a political party in India. It is born with the support of some social base and moves forward by connecting other classes with other evolutionary issues. But there is no social base associated with Aam Aadmi Party, that is why it has not developed any traditional voter base. This has weakened his chances of moving beyond a limit.
The entire unit of the party in Himachal Pradesh joined the BJP, while in Uttarakhand its chief ministerial face, former Colonel Ajay Kothiyal also joined the BJP. If the party had any social base, leaders would not have switched sides in such large numbers. The change in the party of these leaders clears the state party. This would force the party to start from zero in every next election which would not allow it to seek stability.
lack of leaders
The companions of Arvind Kejriwal’s movement gradually moved away from him. This made him the sole ruler of the party, but the coming together of the Gujarat-Delhi Municipal Corporation election also proved that it lacks big star leaders. If she had leaders like Kumar Vishwas and Ashutosh, she would have been able to put her point more strongly among the people. Political pundits believe that Kejriwal will have to learn to take people along to play a big innings. He alone cannot pull the Aam Aadmi Party for long.
diversion of issues
The Aam Aadmi Party definitely won the Delhi Municipal Corporation elections, but it has also rung alarm bells for it. It has also come to the fore in this Municipal Corporation election itself that the Muslim voters are now again turning towards the Congress. Kejriwal has tried to prove himself as a bigger Hindu leader under a strategy. He did not take a tough stand even on the Bilkis Bano episode in the Gujarat elections. He is accused of holding the people of Tablighi Jamaat responsible for spreading corona even during the Corona period. It is believed that for these reasons the Muslim voter is drifting away from the Aam Aadmi Party.
Since it was the Dalit-Muslim voters of the Congress who became his strength by associating with Kejriwal, if this section completely turns away from him, then the chances of moving forward of the Aam Aadmi Party can be a big blow. The strength Congress is getting from Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra can also create big hurdles in Kejriwal’s path. This is the reason why political analysts believe that the party needs to rethink its policies.