Kejriwal’s Huge Victory In Delhi Election : Calculated Risk Taken By Delhi Voters

by N.S.Venkataraman

( February 11, 2015, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) While the pre poll survey predicted that Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi party will win the Delhi assembly election, nobody really expected that the victory will be so huge, with other parties virtually being wiped out. In the coming days, there is bound to be animated discussions and investigation as to why BJP was given such a bad treatment by the Delhi voters and whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lost his sheen. While certainly, Modi would be carefully analysing the results and introspecting about his performance and decisions, he is bound to feel anxious and would be eager to regain his position in the mind of the people.

Delhi is a very small territory in the all India level and therefore , the defeat of BJP cannot be considered as disapproval of BJP in toto at all India level. The country still has lot of hopes from Modi. Perhaps, Delhi voters has sounded a note of warning to him that people cannot be taken for granted and people’s expectations have to be fulfilled. Modi would be reminded that promises and words cannot be substitute for action.

The most worried person today would be Kejriwal and his party men elected to Delhi assembly. Having made all sorts of impossible promises during the campaign and set a record earlier as a leader of chaotic government, the time has come for Kejriwal to deliver. Every economist and those with experience in governance would know that his promises such as free electricity etc. are unimplementable. Even his promise to root out corruption will be impossible, since he himself is likely to face serious charges and investigation in the coming days about the method of his collecting funds during the election campaign and sources of the donation not being correctly known in many cases. Nobody really believes that his collection of Rs.20,000 from individuals for attending his tea party was genuine.

Obviously, people voted for him more to convey their disappointment that Modi and BJP have not implemented their poll promises. While Modi government is taking number of measures to promote economic and industrial development which people know, the fact is that the biggest expectation from Modi that he would root out corruption and bring back black money from abroad within hundred days of coming to power have not been achieved. The corruption in Delhi administration and central government departments continue to be as bad as it was and Modi has really done nothing significant to catch and punish the corrupt people. He even appears to be going soft on people like Vadra.

Further, Modi raised expectation that he would provide strong leadership which again has not happened. Hotheads in BJP and other groups that are suspected to be close to him, have made all sorts of unwanted statements and indulged in acts which Modi has failed to condemn and put down. To teach a lesson to Modi, Kejriwal has been voted.

Today, even the pledged admirer of Kejriwal does not think that he would be able to deliver his promises . In the coming days, to conceal the inadequacy of his administration and inability to fulfil his promises, he will demand impossible things from central government and insist that Delhi police should be brought under his control and huge Delhi’s deficit financing that would happen due to his extending freebies should be borne by the central government. When the central government would not oblige, he would go for dharna infront of Modi’s residence and ask his party men to block Modi’s motorcade. He will show confrontationist attitude at every opportunity so that he would get the media coverage and keep his party men engaged.

With such a huge majority and the arrogance that will inevitably follow, Kejriwal’s party men are bound to indulge in corrupt practices and they have not come from heaven.

The voters in Delhi have shown themselves as keen watchers. They are bound to demand that Kejriwal fulfil his promises, sooner or later, sooner than later. Kejriwal may even have to run for cover.

One hopes that Kejriwal will show extraordinary level of statesmanship to survive in power in such conditions but based on his past behaviour, this appears to be a very tall expectation.