dna edit: The fear of defeat

The Aam Aadmi Party’s flip-flops in recent days have reflected poorly on its claims of ushering in a new culture of alternative politics. The abortive attempt at forming another government in Delhi is reflective of a party riven by divisions, confusion and desperation. The derision and flak for attempting a needless encore was made worse by the surprising Congress bravado in refusing support to another AAP government.

Arvind Kejriwal’s attempt to soften the embarrassment by now demanding fresh polls — paired with a belated apology to the people for resigning in haste — was an unconvincing attempt at reclaiming the moral high-ground. The AAP and its leadership have been left cutting a sorry figure; but this was the only course left in a lost cause. A group of legislators fearful of approaching the electorate after the party’s severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls appeared to have forced the AAP leadership into staving off polls at any cost.

Forgotten amid such crass opportunism was that the AAP had made the failure to conduct fresh state elections a campaign issue. The party had even approached the Supreme Court alleging unconstitutionality in Delhi being administered without a popular government. It would not be surprising if the AAP leadership’s indecisive and impulsive nature becomes a campaign issue in the next Delhi polls. A sense of complacency from its unexpected success in the December elections seems to have dulled the AAP’s political instincts. It went defensive as the BJP successfully portrayed the AAP government’s resignation as genetic aversion to responsible politics. Belatedly, the AAP has understood that most Delhi citizens were yearning for a corruption-free, responsive and stable government, rather than one actively seeking an exit on a principled stance.

In hindsight, the AAP fooled itself into believing that the people voted for them in large numbers for enacting the Jan Lokpal Bill. It misjudged the appeal that its platform for alternative politics held out to voters. But the seeds of the AAP’s troubles lay in the fractured mandate of the 2013 polls. With BJP unable to form a government, the AAP undertook this needless task, distinctly uncomfortable with the Congress offer of unconditional support and the taint of association with the scam-ridden Congress. But the AAP will regret its perennial insecurity of the Congress pulling the plug without allowing the new government to settle; there was no disgrace in such a fall. However, the answer to why the resignation over the Congress’ broken promise of unconditional support, played out to a different narrative lies in the pro-Modi wave distorting several competing perspectives. For the 400-odd constituencies where the AAP pitched candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, the choice between a four-term chief minister and a 49-day one was easy.

But all is not lost for the AAP. Kejriwal’s apology and the “jan sabhas” the party will convene to explain the resignation could be accepted by voters. After all, they have offered a much longer rope to worse offenders. The AAP’s principled stance on forsaking corporate donations and accepting only accounted money from citizens was the big positive of the 2014 polls. The party’s clumsy moves in the past few days betray a fascination for power and worries about defections and desertions from its ranks and victory and defeat in Delhi. Amid such short-term imperatives, the AAP is in danger of missing the larger opportunity presented by these elections. There is no credible national political opposition to the BJP today and herein lies the AAP’s tryst with its destiny.