Change at AAP: What does it mean for Kejriwal, Atishi and Delhi

As the Delhi government awaits a change of guard and a new chief minister in Atishi is expected to step into the shoes of Arvind Kejriwal soon, none in the Capital are ready to believe that the outgoing CM will sit back quietly and let her find her own path. This is so even as the changeover is timed for a few months only — until the conclusion of the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls.

Kejriwal’s larger-than-life image in Delhi and his clear stamp on most things that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or its government does or may do have the potential of creating a virtually dual centre of power in Delhi through the days to come.

Delhi is already known for its multiplicity of authority. The Lieutenant Governor (LG), Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Delhi Police Commissioner, and Vice-Chairman of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) are just a few apart from a seven-strong Delhi Cabinet or its ministers who control Delhi. It is also the hub of the country’s power, but within its confines, the distribution of power is uneven, with subjects like Law and Order, Services, and Land being under the Centre’s command.

Judicial intervention

The result of this is a deeply layered system which may not be easy to negotiate for laypersons and this has often called for intervention by the higher judiciary to demarcate authority or jurisdiction of each agency whether Central or that of the province.

Going to courts became more common in Kejriwal’s time as CM. It has been so even for those who hold constitutional posts in the Delhi set-up, including Kejriwal himself. It has been more so because of his many rows with LG. And since his tenure ends now rather abruptly with his decision to go to the “people’s court” without being in the office of the CM, Atishi is going to take his mantle in quite uncertain times.

Uncertain not only because elections are looming like monsoon clouds over Delhi as Kejriwal has decided to prove his innocence in the Delhi liquor policy case before possibly returning to power again but also, courtesy the fact that the Centre and so the LG are BJP or Narendra Modi-led and there could not be peace between AAP or Kejriwal and BJP-Modi or LG in past nine years or so. This is also going to remain the same even in case AAP wins the early next year’s Delhi Assembly polls.

Future indefinite

As Atishi is set to take charge of the Capital the trust between her and Kejriwal is absolute. Yet, at the core of this is the understanding that she would step down after the polls to make way for Kejriwal if AAP is successful at the hustings. He has done the same to let her become CM and take AAP to polls where he could get himself bailed out from what he calls to be the people’s court. This is so even as Delhi polls are still a few months away. But the dictum -- a week is a long time in politics -- can make nobody absolutely sure about the turn of events that future may force.

Today’s rock-solid accord among AAP higher-ups, which led to Atishi's rise to the post of CM, has come through because of the circumstances created by the fierce legal battle fought between Kejriwal and the Centre via the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). But the legal issues related to the Delhi excise policy case will remain the same irrespective of the outcome of the polls. The BJP has already underscored this.

Moreover, LG can always throw in one or the other legal point to have his way or make things difficult for AAP or Kejriwal when it comes to the crux. So, it is rather difficult to visualise the future.

Ideological issues

Besides legal, there are ideological issues behind the current political crisis Delhi has landed into. AAP is an outfit that neither has a history, nor ideology though its leader or Kejriwal could cover up for both because of his sheer personality, track record and charisma. His success in taking over control of Delhi somehow almost coincided with that of as ideologically strong a party as BJP’s virtual takeover of the country a decade ago. The tussle between the two is as old as their inception as the twin-ruling entities of Delhi and it escalated as the Capital houses both of these.

This tussle has roots in electoral politics. It drives both these parties to rather irreconcilable positions that AAP and BJP have to take too often to outsmart each other. Though Congress is a bystander in this AAP is more like Congress since its leaders, volunteers and supporters are drawn from myriad ideological shades like Congress and unlike the monolith BJP. But within AAP Kejriwal and Atishi have diverse ideological orientation. The former is thought to be right of the Centre while the latter is inclined leftwards.

Although this did not matter so far the different ideological affinities of the two may well come into play due to coalition politics gaining momentum in many states as well as from the point of view of the Centre. Atishi’s stature is on the rise and her say in determining political thrust of AAP is going to be greater as she becomes CM even though for a few months.

National politics

So far AAP has not been able to decide its exact role in national politics clearly. Kejriwal has been the sole decision-maker in the party but Atishi’s ascent brings a chance for him to focus more on national politics. To move ahead, AAP has to decide which side of the political divide between NDA and INDIA group of parties it is going to be. Kejriwal’s stepping aside from Delhi and Atishi gaining experience of running Delhi through the days to come may well help AAP to overcome this.

Atish’s basic inclination has already started getting reflected in her response to what is happening in Delhi. Soon after a building collapsed at Karol Bagh on a rain-drenched Wednesday, September 18, she rushed to the nearby Lohia Hospital to speak to the injured taken there and doctors treating them. This is being taken as a noble move on her part because Delhi has of late been becoming a city of tragedies. Not long ago a basement of a coaching centre in close by Old Rajendra Nagar got suddenly flooded due to heavy rains, trapping and drowning its hapless occupants.

With Kejriwal in jail for nearly six months before getting bail, Delhi has been left rudderless. The citizens or voters of Delhi have, indeed, been going through a test of sorts as filth, garbage, and stench have been abounding in the poorer enclaves of the Capital, and slums have been becoming virtual ratholes.

Thus, the agnipariksha or 'test by fire' that Arvind Kejriwal has vowed to take via the upcoming Assembly polls is also dogging most Delhiites, and it is going to be hardly any different for Atishi as the new CM of the country’s Capital city, which has been teetering with numerous woes.