Delhi elections | Five reasons why AAP and Kejriwal bit the dust
On top of everything, there was a general anti-incumbency against AAP, one which affects most govts, more so when they stay in power for one or two terms
The Modi government’s stranglehold over the Delhi government, desertions from the AAP, aggressive propaganda by the BJP, rivalry with the Congress and overall anti-incumbency are the major factors that went against the Aam Admi Party (AAP) in Assembly elections in the national capital.
Centre versus AAP
From the time when the Arvind Kejriwal government began on a high note in 2015, the Centre slowly began choking it, to the point where the Lt Governor, a Central government’s appointee, became the dominant force administratively in the national capital for all practical purposes. A stage was reached when senior officers in Delhi began refusing to take orders from the chief minister or his ministers, and openly stayed away from official meetings called by them. Kejriwal could neither accept this truth wholly because it would hurt him politically nor could he hide it fully. As he kept fighting the Centre, both legally and otherwise, he came to seen as a fighter and disruptor. This sullied his image.
Infighting in AAP
Unlike in his first five-year stint, the AAP suffered from critical desertions from its ranks in the 2020-25 period, cracking its image as a solidly unified party. The most damaging was the resignation of Delhi transport minister and a long-time Kejriwal confidant, Kailash Gehlot, ahead of the Assembly elections. Others including ministers had quit the AAP earlier. But Gehlot’s going away and the allegations he hurled at Kejriwal contributed to giving a bad name to the AAP and its most visible face, Kejriwal.
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Congress damages AAP
While detailed election results will take a day or two to emerge, it is clear from preliminary trends that the Congress caused a huge dent in the AAP vote bank, particularly among Muslims. Had the two parties fought the elections together as members of the INDIA alliance, the outcome may have been different. The AAP originally rose by wooing away the traditional Congress vote base, and now the Congress retrieved sections of its old supporters. While the Congress may or may not win any seat, Rahul Gandhi’s aggressive campaign against the AAP and Kejriwal has caused a massive damage.
BJP’s aggression
The BJP’s propaganda blitz and other tactics – some of its underhand -- caused a major disruption to the AAP’s prospects. After lying low for long, the BJP unleashed a no-nonsense campaign against the AAP blaming it for all the ills in the city, including those on which the AAP had no control. Irrespective of the rights and wrongs, the propaganda turned significant sections of voters away from the AAP, so much so that even its top leaders had to huff and puff in their own constituencies.
Anti-incumbency
On top of everything, there was a general anti-incumbency, one which affects most governments, more so when they stay in power for two terms. Just as the BJP could not muster a simple majority in the Lok Sabha in 2024, the AAP would not have swept the elections in Delhi this year even if had won the battle. Although the AAP can count many things to its credit during the decade it ruled Delhi, some things went against it including Kejriwal’s pledge earlier that he would clean up the Yamuna river before the 2025 polls or else he would not contest. And there was the jailing of Kejriwal and other AAP leaders on corruption charges although nothing could be proved in a court of law. But these dented the standing of those once seen as anti-corruption crusaders.