A city helmed by two governments working at cross-purposes with each other; no other description would fit better the politics of Delhi over the past one year. When the Aam Aadmi Party stormed to power in February last year after decimating the BJP and the Congress in the assembly elections, few expected smooth sailing for the greenhorn party that touted itself as an outsider and disrupter of the political status quo. The AAP and its supremo Arvind Kejriwal, with ambitions of growing into a pan-India presence, came to power on a heady cocktail of populism and anti-establishment sentiment. A year later, the AAP government has made a promising start in some areas but the recurring standoffs with the central government threaten to derail the governance agenda. While Kejriwal has made overt attempts to mould public perception in the battle of nerves with the Centre and gained some sympathy, it is governance and governance alone that will influence the voter when it comes to judging his administration’s performance.

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However, Kejriwal has been forced to firefight on many a front making it difficult to dispel the perception that he leads a government which is perpetually in crisis. First, there was the revolt by Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav which was stamped out with an iron hand. Kejriwal was also forced to sack two of his ministers on allegations of impropriety. The government also lost control over its Anti-Corruption Branch with Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung asserting his powers on all service matters. The ham-handed manner in which the CBI raided Kejriwal’s principal secretary Rajender Kumar’s office and Kejriwal’s frontal attack on PM Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley served to further escalate the rift. Kejriwal’s tenuous grip over the administration was also in evidence during the strike by officers of the IAS and DYNACS cadre. With no powers to discipline its officers, the AAP government had no option but to grin and bear the insult. The needless path of confrontation adopted by the central and Delhi governments have put the officers in an unenviable situation, caught between two antagonistic and unforgiving masters.

But if Kejriwal can take heart, it is in the positive reception that has accompanied some of his initiatives. When Delhi’s air pollution problem began to receive global attention, environment minister Prakash Javadekar complained that no one had raised the issue for 10 years. In contrast, Kejriwal has proven himself to be a man of action by rolling out the odd-even plan to restrict vehicle entry on Delhi roads. Though there are doubts about whether the plan helped curb pollution, most Delhiites did respond to Kejriwal’s plea to shun roads during the operation of the scheme. The Delhi government’s 2015-16 budget blazed a new trail with a 106 per cent increase in spending on education and a 45 per cent hike in public spending on health. However, the promises to open 236 schools, recruit 20,000 regular teachers, start 500 neighbourhood clinics, add 1,000 hospital beds, besides putting 10,000 additional buses on the roads are predominantly still on paper. So far, only a few showpiece structures have come up but the AAP’s model of affordable health care exudes immense promise. Admittedly, none of these infrastructural improvements are possible overnight and will take time to fructify. Many of Delhi’s areas continue to suffer from sanitation woes and high crime rates. The AAP has been engaged in a running battle with the Delhi Police and municipal corporations on these issues. In its year in power, the AAP government has earned tremendous visibility thanks to its location in Delhi and geographical proximity to media houses, advertising binges, high-decibel slogans, and social media campaigns. With four more years to go, the AAP faces the twin challenges of continuing to pursue alternative politics and policies, and adopt consensual tactics in the interest of governance.