By Sidharth Mishra

If there was one proposition of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal, which was rejected lock, stock and barrel, it his claim that his party was ‘kattar imandar’ which when translated into English would be rabidly honest. Though there is no grammatical error in somebody being rabidly honest but language usage wise it’s like an oxymoron.

This attempt to repair the dent in AAP’s image of being an impeccably honest party has come a cropper. Its senior leaders, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is facing corruption charges in the liquor scam, transport minister Kailash Gahlot, who is in dock in a case of alleged swindling in purchase of buses, and jail minister Satyendra Jain, who ironically is incarcerated in money laundering case, were snubbed by the voters in their constituencies.

By Sidharth Mishra

One of the first reactions of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership on their performance in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls has been that the people have rejected the corruption charges against its leaders Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia. Those who keenly follow politics of this country would recall that the discovery of fodder scam in Bihar did not really harm the political fortunes of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) strongman Lalu Prasad Yadav.

It took another decade before the RJD government was replaced by the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar in 2005. The vote against Lalu Yadav was not exactly against his acts of corruption but mal-governance and lack of development with Nitish Kumar promising ‘Sushashan’ (good governance). Despite Nitish bringing relatively cleaner and more efficient governance in Bihar, Lalu Yadav’s party did not go out of business.

Arvind Kejriwal’s party which had its genesis in the anti-corruption movement and its leaders claiming to not seek a share in the power structure, today has imprisoned ministers refusing to quit office despite being denied bail by the trial court and also the high court. This was something which the much-maligned Lalu Prasad Yadav also did not indulge in when he was arrested in the fodder scam case.

By Sidharth Mishra

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost an election which for it was to win. The is how the results of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls could be summed up on one line. The poor turnout of voters in the first place had indicated towards BJP being pushed onto the backfoot.

More than the anti-incumbency of 15 years, it has been lack of credible leadership at the state level which has harmed the saffron party in the national Capital more than any other factor. From a very dominant performance during the assembly election held in February 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was engaged by the BJP in a cliffhanger in the MCD polls, the latter could have carried the day provided they had a face to project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot be the sole currency for the party to monetise its performance at every tier of our democratic set-up. BJP’s experiments with the regional and caste votes without a credible face has failed them now in two consequent elections.

By Sidharth Mishra

The report says 18% of candidates belonging to the Aam Aadmi Party for the upcoming MCD elections face criminal cases, followed by the BJP and Congress. On the other hand, the BJP has topped the list of ‘crorepati’ candidates, followed by AAP and Congress.

It must have been like swallowing bitter pill for the ADR to come out with this report drawing on the ‘criminal’ character of the AAP. Like several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), ADR too were part of the social sector conglomerate which had supported the ‘India Against Corruption’ campaign of Anna Hazare in 2011, which was spearheaded by Arvind Kejriwal, then a social activist.

By Sidharth Mishra

The Gujarat assembly election are now round the corner. The state faces a triangular fight, or at least the media says so. The media spoke similarly very high about the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) when the assembly elections were held in Uttarakhand and in Goa. They ended up giving miserable performance in the two states.

AAP’s performance was initially tipped to be very good in Himachal Pradesh too. But despite a cheering media, the party itself decided to give up. AAP insiders say that with considerably weakened financial sinews, following arrest of Minister Satyender Jain in money laundering scam, it was not possible for Arvind Kejriwal to fight BJP on two fronts, thus he decided to ‘recall forces’ from Himachal for the bigger battle in Gujarat.

The big battle, as Kejriwal sees it, is his best opportunity to emerge as a challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had made a similar attempt early in his career taking on Modi in 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi. This was at the peak of his anti-corruption movement and he managed to poll 2.09 lakh votes against Modi’s 5.81 lakh.

By Sidharth Mishra

Delhi has often been derided for its unique governance structure, which has three distinct levels. It’s been called multiplicity of authority, which people have claimed to be the bane for the governance of the national Capital.

Now let’s put it this way, that no government law or policy is prima facie maliciously intended. Deficiencies emerge in its implementation. And these deficiencies may not necessarily be on the account law being inherently bad but it’s largely due to the ill intent of the people implementing it.

We have the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls scheduled to be held in a fortnight’s time. Some political party would win the polls and the other would lose but governance in Delhi would continue to remain defeated. There is a reason for this thought of pessimism.

By Sidharth Mishra

In an ostensible mention about the ‘clean politics’ agenda of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned at a public rally that those who call themselves incorrigibly honest (kattar imandar) can be seen raising hands together with those convicted of corruption. He was referring to the photograph of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal with Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Yadav has been convicted of corruption in the infamous fodder scam cases of Bihar and thus made illegible for contesting elections. Arvind Kejriwal, however, in a way is doing one better on Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had decided to quit when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) came to arrest him. Unlike Yadav, Kejriwal has allowed his cabinet colleague Satyender Jain to continue in office despite being arrested as far back as May 31 this year in a much graver case of money laundering.

By Sidharth Mishra

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dominate political diatribe in the run-up to the polls of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Congress suddenly entered the news columns for different reasons. Nomination of former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler on the party’s poll committee has got the Congress the much missed headlines.

Tytler’s nomination matters, and no wonder the party is ready to take the risk. With its vote share down to less than five percent in the last assembly polls, it doesn’t lose anything more in the name of four-time Lok Sabha member. On the other hand bringing the veteran out from forced hibernation may (or may not) help revive the dormant party organisation.

Product of the Youth Congress of Sanjay Gandhi’s generation, Tytler rubbed shoulders and remained friends with Congress stalwarts like Kamal Nath and made a steady progress on the political ladder. He had a reasonably successful tenure as Minister in PV Narasimha Rao Cabinet between 1991and 1996.

In Delhi’s politics he was seen as rival to Congress’ long time strongman Har Kishan Lal Bhagat, who enjoyed the epithet of ‘uncrowned king of Delhi’. Tytler on the other hand formed the opposite axis within Congress through 1980s and 1990s, holding his own.