How AAP altered Delhi politics
9 Dec 2013 12:20 AM GMT
However, the very same former civil servant has changed the game, as it were, of the Capital’s poll-driven politics. He has not just catapulted his nascent party to the acme of electoral achievement, securing 28 out of 70 seats in the Delhi assembly elections, but also dislodged the thrice-victorious Sheila Dikshit from her throne, defeating her by an unbelievable 25,864 votes in a one-on-one direct confrontation.
Speaking after the results were announced, the 44-year-old leader said, ‘This is a victory of the people. It shows India has won, democracy has won.’ Kejriwal led the party from the front.
Yogendra Yadav, psephologist and AAP member, admitted that it is not easy to convince the youth to vote. ‘We were appealing to their (youths) innate sense of idealism and patriotism. In our campaign drives, we told them that it is their duty to vote,’ said Yadav.
He’s a man of dogged self-determination, but not one without humour. That he waited until the last day (16 November) to file his nomination so as to ensure that he gets to contest against Dikshit (then looked upon as a sure-shot case of political suicide) speaks volumes on his grit and intrepid march towards political ascendency.
Debunking all claims by media and political pundits that he was a ‘non-actor, a non-factor’ in the greater scheme of things, Kejriwal stormed the mighty fortresses of not just the three-term Congress government, he was equally vocal of his criticism of the BJP mascots, who he thought no better than their Congress brethren.
Two years back, when he descended on the political horizon as a part of Team Anna, along with former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, to demand the Jan Lokpal Bill or the anti-graft legislation, the Ramon Magsaysay award winner ceaselessly rallied after issues like corruption in politics, rise in power and water tariff, safety of women etc.
Another historical irony is that it was at this time when the former 45-year-old Indian Revenue Service officer was often ‘advised’, by none other than Congress stalwarts such as Kapil Sibal and Mani Shankar Aiyar, that he should leave behind his agit-prop brand of telegenic showmanship and jump into the political fray if he really wanted to cleanse and transform politics.
Following the split with Anna Hazare, Kejriwal formed his Aam Aadmi Party and got its poll symbol, ‘broom’, sanctioned by the Election Commission as late as 3 August of this year. The broom symbolised not only the beginning of a transparent brand of politics, but it also stood for the poor Dalits, the sweepers and cleaners, whose squalor the Dikshit government had tried to brush under the carpet during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Kejriwal’s brand of ‘citizen activism’, after enjoying a spell of hurting the politico-bureaucratic nexus within Lutyen’s Delhi, upped its ante, becoming one of the most media and technology-savvy political dispensations in recent times.
Not only did AAP file its candidates from all the 70 seats of Delhi assembly, but, along with his compradors, Shazia Ilmi (who lost by a tiny margin in RK Puram constituency) and Manish Sisodia, Kejriwal relentlessly championed the ordinary worries of the common man, the anxieties over rising prices of everyday items, power and water bills skyrocketing, escalating violence against women, among other pressing concerns.
Kejriwal and his broom brigade stormed Delhi landmarks like Vijay Chowk and India Gate, to drive home the message of democratic alternative to the politics of Lutyen’s Delhi. While other leaders and candidates roamed the streets in their gigantic SUVs, the former RTI activist used the Delhi Metro to commute, a brilliant strategy to use Sheila Dikshit’s crowning glory against her own political fortunes.
Speaking after the results were announced, the 44-year-old leader said, ‘This is a victory of the people. It shows India has won, democracy has won.’ Kejriwal led the party from the front.
Yogendra Yadav, psephologist and AAP member, admitted that it is not easy to convince the youth to vote. ‘We were appealing to their (youths) innate sense of idealism and patriotism. In our campaign drives, we told them that it is their duty to vote,’ said Yadav.
He’s a man of dogged self-determination, but not one without humour. That he waited until the last day (16 November) to file his nomination so as to ensure that he gets to contest against Dikshit (then looked upon as a sure-shot case of political suicide) speaks volumes on his grit and intrepid march towards political ascendency.
Debunking all claims by media and political pundits that he was a ‘non-actor, a non-factor’ in the greater scheme of things, Kejriwal stormed the mighty fortresses of not just the three-term Congress government, he was equally vocal of his criticism of the BJP mascots, who he thought no better than their Congress brethren.
Two years back, when he descended on the political horizon as a part of Team Anna, along with former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, to demand the Jan Lokpal Bill or the anti-graft legislation, the Ramon Magsaysay award winner ceaselessly rallied after issues like corruption in politics, rise in power and water tariff, safety of women etc.
Another historical irony is that it was at this time when the former 45-year-old Indian Revenue Service officer was often ‘advised’, by none other than Congress stalwarts such as Kapil Sibal and Mani Shankar Aiyar, that he should leave behind his agit-prop brand of telegenic showmanship and jump into the political fray if he really wanted to cleanse and transform politics.
Following the split with Anna Hazare, Kejriwal formed his Aam Aadmi Party and got its poll symbol, ‘broom’, sanctioned by the Election Commission as late as 3 August of this year. The broom symbolised not only the beginning of a transparent brand of politics, but it also stood for the poor Dalits, the sweepers and cleaners, whose squalor the Dikshit government had tried to brush under the carpet during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Kejriwal’s brand of ‘citizen activism’, after enjoying a spell of hurting the politico-bureaucratic nexus within Lutyen’s Delhi, upped its ante, becoming one of the most media and technology-savvy political dispensations in recent times.
Not only did AAP file its candidates from all the 70 seats of Delhi assembly, but, along with his compradors, Shazia Ilmi (who lost by a tiny margin in RK Puram constituency) and Manish Sisodia, Kejriwal relentlessly championed the ordinary worries of the common man, the anxieties over rising prices of everyday items, power and water bills skyrocketing, escalating violence against women, among other pressing concerns.
Kejriwal and his broom brigade stormed Delhi landmarks like Vijay Chowk and India Gate, to drive home the message of democratic alternative to the politics of Lutyen’s Delhi. While other leaders and candidates roamed the streets in their gigantic SUVs, the former RTI activist used the Delhi Metro to commute, a brilliant strategy to use Sheila Dikshit’s crowning glory against her own political fortunes.
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