Gauging an imminent embarrassing defeat for AAP in the general elections, Arvind Kejriwal has now come out now with various justifications for the same. From accusing the BJP of tampering with the EVM’s to now blaming the Muslim community for “shifting their vote to Congress”, AAP has surely come out in a defensive mode. AAP and many other parties are fighting an existential battle this general elections. Desperate to save political ground from the BJP, steps like fear mongering and misleading the electorate have been the top tactics of this opposition camp.
“Until 48 hours before polling, it seemed like all seven seats will come to AAP. But at the last moment, the complete Muslim vote got shifted to Congress. We are trying to figure out what happened,” Kejriwal said.
Asked what, in his opinion, the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls will be, Kejriwal said: “If they do not tamper with the EVMs, Modi ji should not come back… but I do not know whether they would do it or not.”
The 2019 general elections has been seeing the opposition camp shifting into uncomfortable twists and turns, from arch rivals SP and BSP forging an alliance of convenience to Raj Thackeray emerging as a new liberal hero this election has been seeing it all. However, as we approach towards the last phase of the general elections, indicators of acceptance of defeat from the opposition camp have further intensified. In another massive development, Congress after gauging a repeat of their embarrassing defeat in the last general elections has been sending out feelers in the opposition camp and has indicated Rahul Gandhi’s withdrawal from the PM’s race and now this big claim by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal points towards the same for AAP.
AAP with its fractured leadership is on a path to further worsen its electoral position in the 2019 general elections, coupled with failure in securing an alliance with the Congress in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party’s electoral conquest had taken another hit. Looking at the clean image of Narendra Modi’s government, AAP had also abandoned its core agenda of anti-corruption and had built its campaign around full statehood of Delhi; however, the dissociation of promises and efforts by the AAP government has further sharpened questions over their credibility.
AAP campaign for the 2019 general elections also saw massive attempts to appease the second largest majority religion; AAP had announced that the salaries of imams will be increased from Rs. 10,000 per month to Rs. 18,000 per month. However, recent comments by Arvind Kejriwal only points towards AAP’s failure in this front too. Coming out and directly shifting the onus of an imminent defeat on a certain community and making unsubstantiated allegation on the electoral process are surely an indication of acceptance of AAP’s defeat by Arvind Kejriwal even before the election results are out.
A research report by a think tank had also suggested that out of the 70 promises made in the AAP manifesto, 67 have not been delivered to the people. Remaining 3 promises were misleading in nature and out of the purview of Delhi government. According to the report failed promises included, failure to revamp the education system, justice for victims of Anti-Sikh 1984 carnage, regularization and transformation of unauthorized colonies, large-scale expansion in bus services, creating 8 lakh jobs, CCTV’s in public spaces and buses and others. With their dismal performance in the Delhi government, AAP’s defeat is surely no surprise.
Dissociation from poll promises coupled with involvement in ambition driven politics has adversely affected Arvind Kejriwal’s credibility and analyzing the current political scenario, many experts believe it to be the last election for AAP.