AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: With the BJP taking the reins of Delhi on Thursday, Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is closing a ten-year-old chapter and entering into an uncertain terrain of playing Opposition at a place where it sought to redefine political engagement.
Not just the BJP and the Congress, the AAP cadre is also keenly watching the next steps of its chief Kejriwal as it will determine the future of the youngest party in the Indian political scene where it grew on an anti-Congress platform.
Though it tempered its approach towards Congress in the 2020s, it is yet to be seen whether the party has the tools to counter a BJP in power. It managed to defeat it in Assembly polls with a section of rightwing voters but never got the better of the saffron party in the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi.
The ‘Delhi Model’, which the AAP has been using as a mascot, has a dent on it with the latest results and corruption allegations. It will be difficult for Kejriwal to once again weave a campaign around it, especially when the AAP government in Punjab is facing questions over unfulfilled poll promises.
AAP sources indicated that they will not be going in for a shrill campaign against the BJP at the beginning itself and will give it some time to settle in governance issues. People do not like aggressive pitching beyond a point as they saw during the campaign, sources said.
Against this background, the major task for AAP will be to fix its ideological anchor which will be important for the party as it now swings between an aggressive Hindutva pitch and an ambivalent stand on issues related to minorities as one saw in Delhi.
A senior AAP leader said the focus in Punjab would be on fulfilling the election-time promises, including rolling out the Rs 1,000 monthly allowance to women. The BJP and Congress had raised the issue during the Delhi Assembly election campaign.
Clinging on to Punjab is important for AAP, as it does not see much growth elsewhere and a defeat in 2027 could lead to trouble in Delhi. The Congress has already smelt blood and is embarking on an aggressive pitch in the border state.
For the time being, AAP has managed to put a lid on speculation about trouble in its Punjab unit with a show of unity.
Congress believes that AAP is feeding on Congress' space though it does not take credit for Kejriwal’s defeat. Sources in both parties agree that AAP did not lose because of Congress and that even an alliance would not have saved them.
AAP sources said alliance with Congress was out of question in Delhi as the experiment was not successful during the Lok Sabha elections where vote transfer did not take place. “We lost some votes in the Lok Sabha polls,” the AAP leader said.
Congress sources said Dalits and Muslims voted for AAP as they found it as a viable alternative to defeat the BJP. An AAP initial analysis points to the desertion of the middle class and they do not point to the Income Tax proposals for their defeat.
“The middle-class has shifted before the Union Budget. The IT proposals were just an icing on the cake,” the AAP leader said.
Delhi assembly elections 2025 results | Get all latest updates here
Delhi assembly elections 2025 results | Get constituency-wise details here
Delhi Assembly Election 2025 | The Delhi Assembly Elections saw a fierce contest between AAP and BJP, while Congress despite its best attempts failed to make a mark. The saffron party is all set to make a comeback in the national capital after almost three decades as AAP chief Kejriwal has accepted the people's verdict and looks to be part of a constructive opposition. Reactions from all quarters are pouring in as BJP celebrates its first electoral win in 2025, with Bihar polls slated to take place later this year. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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