AAP: A bubble that's about to burst

As deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia finally got back from his Finland tour and went to meet the Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, a miscreant threw ink on him. Mr Sisodia’s reaction was predictable, immediately blaming it on the Opposition political parties. While acts like throwing ink or any act of violence cannot be condoned, Mr Sisodia should try to understand people’s feelings of rage and betrayal for being abandoned by an elected government at a time of severe health crisis. While Delhi was trying to grapple with severe onslaught of chikungunya and dengue, all except one minister of AAP government were out of town together for a crucial period of time. Even after return, the health minister’s insensitive comments and the photographs of a wining and dining deputy chief minister while out on a tour to Finland didn’t augur well with the citizens of a city shivering with fever. What went wrong with the party that set the imagination of thousands of Indians on fire when it was formed just a few years ago?

High ideals and lofty promises of clean politics, efficient and accountable governance sound hollow faced with harsh realities of deaths that were entirely avoidable. One hoped that the government would’ve learnt its lessons from last year’s experience when the dengue cases in Delhi touched an unprecedented high of nearly 16,000. However, instead of focusing on measures to prevent dengue, the AAP was busy expanding its net in other states, governance in Delhi being the least of its priorities. The first meeting convened by Mr Kejriwal after his long absence due to Vipasana focused not on Delhi, but on delegating responsibilities to senior AAP leaders and ministers including deputy CM for other poll bound states. Pre-monsoon desilting of drains is a regular preventive measure against water-logging and vector-borne diseases. This needs to be completed by June 15 every year before the onset of monsoons. The least AAP government could have done is proper cleaning of PWD drains that comes directly under it. But as per PWD website, only 30 per cent of PWD drains were desilted as on July 5, 2016, after the rains hit the capital. So why blame others when the Delhi government failed to do its own bit?

That’s the usual pattern with the AAP. Being at constant loggerheads with the Centre, LG, MCD, bureaucrats and even media do not help in smooth governance. Delhi is governed by Transaction of Business Rules of GNCTD, 1993, that provides a clear roadmap of operation for the elected government of Delhi as well as the LG. Congress governed and delivered under the same set of rules for 15 years. Before that the BJP ruled for one term. If the previous chief ministers could operate and deliver under the same set of rules, why does Mr Kejriwal think that the rules should be bent for him? It may be noted that there had been times when BJP ruled in Centre and Congress in the state, and vice-versa. There may have been problems, but it was never played out as public spectacles affecting the governance and the lives of general public. An AAP supporter would retort“sab mile huye hain”. It’s important to understand that in a multi-party democracy with federal structure of government, it’s extremely important to have the ability to cooperate and coordinate. While political parties fight, governance is teamwork, especially in Delhi with its complex multi-agency administrative system.

While the BJP-led Central government is not exactly known for upholding values of co-operative federalism, the problem is multiplied manifold by hyper-confrontational and irresponsible attitude of the AAP. An inexperienced government with a high degree of arrogance due to the massive mandate it received in elections, the AAP is not willing to learn. Its busy finding an easy way out by blaming others in a blatant attempt to shift focus from its inability to deliver. Delhi is in shambles. No amount of high budget and misleading ad campaigns could hide the fact of collapsing infrastructure, growing sanitation problem, increasing rate of crime, and disintegrating administrative machinery. Development of any kind has come to a standstill, and the people of Delhi are being held hostage in endless crossfire between the Centre and the state government. Since coming to power, the AAP government has been embroiled in various controversies and scams ranging from alleged fake degrees to charges of corruption, domestic violence and sex scandals. One wonders what kind of scrutiny was done for selecting candidates.

The conscience-keepers of the party, people like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, were humiliated and thrown out when they voiced their concerns over lack of transparency and internal democracy. Similar allegations are now being made by party workers in Punjab — dubious considerations are at play for ticket distribution. A party that made women security a major electoral plank is now ignoring accusations of sexual exploitation of women party workers, and various charges of alleged molestation and misbehaviour with women by its MLAs. Instead of going hoarse crying political conspiracy, the AAP government should answer why there’s no woman in its Cabinet and what happened to tall promises of marshals in buses and Mohalla Suraksha Committees? The problems of the AAP are more internal than external.

The party is suffering from ideological bankruptcy, intellectual dishonesty, arrogance, inability to introspect and absorb internal dissent and utter lack of spirit of cooperation. Mr Kejriwal’s motto seems to be “Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)”. But after “conquering” Delhi, the party seems to be clueless as what to do next.  In a hurry to be in the prime ministerial race for 2019, Mr Kejriwal is more interested in looking for new pastures rather than focusing on governing Delhi and consolidating its gains. Mr Kejriwal must understand that in a democracy, electoral “conquests” must be followed by delivery and good governance. Delhi had bestowed immense faith in the AAP by giving it an unprecedented mandate. Mr Kejriwal and his government betrayed the people of Delhi by its ineffectual, confrontationist, and irresponsible model of governance.