Awaited: Kejriwal’s critique of Modi
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia at Bhagwant Mann’s oath-taking ceremony, at Khatkar Kalan the birthplace of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, in Nawanshahr near Jalandhar. | Photo Credit: PTI
A resounding victory in Punjab has given a fillip to the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) ambition to emerge as the main challenger to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party has already announced that one day its chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will become Prime Minister. The viability of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress as an alternative to the BJP is in question, more than ever, following their defeats in the recent State elections. AAP, on the other hand, proved that its promise of being a party of change and trust continues to inspire the electorate. Punjab will be a test for the AAP’s national ambitions, as our editorial points out.
The AAP claims to be a non-ideological party that focusses on efficient delivery of state services and corruption-free governance. AAP has not taken on the BJP in any of its strongholds, yet, though both are locked in a power tussle in Delhi. In Delhi and Punjab it came to power beating the Congress. In Delhi, in fact, it alternated with the BJP in winning elections. The AAP won two Assembly elections comprehensively, in 2015 and 2020; the BJP won all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and 2019. The electorate preferred the BJP and Narendra Modi for the Centre, and AAP and Mr. Kejriwal to rule the National Capital Territory. Governance efficiency is as much a claim of the BJP as it is of the AAP. The BJP has the additional feature of its Hindutva ideology. On ideological questions, Mr. Kejriwal has rarely opposed the BJP. He has challenged the BJP from the right on occasion. Mr. Kejriwal has the additional advantage of the support of religious minorities — Muslims in Delhi and Sikhs in Punjab support him.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers take out a victory rally after party’s win in Punjab Assembly elections, in Gurugram, Friday, March 11, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI
The people of Delhi have voted for the BJP and the AAP for roughly the same reason — an appreciation of the strong leader, efficient delivery of services and as a rejection of the Congress and the old order of politics it represented. Mr. Kejriwal had even stopped attacking Mr. Modi — possibly realising that there is no political gain to be made from it. We have not yet seen a political contest between the AAP and the BJP on issues.
The AAP wants to be the “natural, national” alternative to the BJP now, but on what grounds? What is its critique of the BJP? Will Mr. Kejriwal continue his silence on Mr. Modi? Mr. Kejriwal’s ability to sense the public mood and play to that is comparable to Mr. Modi’s. The advisers and supporters that Mr. Kejriwal gathered around him initially were left-leaning intellectuals and activists. As it turned out, he got rid of all of them, and constructed a populist politics of welfarism and cultural majoritarianism -- which transcends the categories of left and right. Will he challenge Mr. Modi from the right, for instance, by questioning his commitment to nationalist causes; or from the left, by taking up issues such as minority rights or civil liberty issues? The success of the likes of Mr. Kejriwal is that they don’t fit into conventional categories such as right and left. How will a challenger take on an incumbent who is moulded in the same cast as he? The answer to that question is awaited. Watch this space.
Caste vs. religion in the heartland
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav addresses a press conference at party office in Lucknow. File. | Photo Credit: PTI
Mr. Kejriwal’s anti-BJP politics is yet to take shape, but another model, of using caste mobilisation to counter religious mobilisation tanked yet again in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party has lost four elections in a row under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, who continues to believe that he has a viable platform against the BJP. But can caste mobilisation counter religious mobilisation? I discussed this question with two experts. You can either listen to our Parley podcast or read the edited transcript here.
The rise of Priyanka Gandhi that wasn’t
AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. File. | Photo Credit: PTI
The Congress performance across all the five States that went to polls was disappointing, but in U.P., it was more than that. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was leading the party’s charge in U.P., and a decent Congress performance would have boosted her as a leader. The Congress won only two seats, dashing the hopes of her supporters. Moreover, the role of her political aides in running the U.P. campaign is now being questioned by leaders. Party president Sonia Gandhi sacked unit chiefs in all five States, which was publicised as fixing accountability. In a party that is under the tight control of the high command, this appears a bit intriguing. The U.P. chief had little to do with Congress strategy in the State. In Uttarakhand, the ‘high command’ did not allow its CM candidate Harish Rawat to contest from a seat of his choice, adding to the strife and confusion in the ranks. In Punjab, the Gandhi siblings foisted a notorious party hopper as Congress president who brazenly sabotaged the campaign that he was supposed to lead!
The proprietary right of the Gandhi family over the Congress party is an accepted fact. The owner of a company cannot be held accountable by others. Accountability starts from the level below the owners.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi with other party leaders seen during Congress CWC meeting at AICC. File. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The group of dissidents in the party, called the G-23, also realise this fact. They are now suggesting a division of authority in the party, with Rahul Gandhi as leader in the Lok Sabha, and a non-family person as president. They are using the accountability argument to pursue their own personal ambitions. Anand Sharma is likely to get a Rajya Sabha nomination from Haryana in the bargain.
A Russian push for Atmanirbhar Bharat
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities of an interconnected world as nations sought to protect their own interests rather than those of the world at large. Most countries developed a new emphasis on self-reliance and import substitution, as supply chains frayed and global trade became unreliable. The U.S.-led reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine further exposed the dangers of being too connected with the world. India too intensified its self-reliance drive. The West’s efforts to use the tools of globalisation to isolate and punish Russia have validated India’s self-reliance push, as this piece argues.
Federalism Tract
Rights and wrongs of hijab
Women India movement members stage a protest near the AGs office proclaiming Hijab is our fundamental right, in Thiruvananthapuram. File. | Photo Credit: S. Mahinsha
The wearing of the hijab has many meanings, but when the state comes into the picture, what actually are the points in debate? The Karnataka High Court order that denies school children the right to wear hijab has been widely criticised by constitutional experts. How does a federal system accommodate the collective rights of groups, individual rights of citizens and meet the objective of unity? In dealing with the hijab case, the Karnataka High Court wrongly framed these issues to reach erroneous conclusions, our editorial pointed out.
A Bengali Dalit?
Manoranjan Byapari. File.
Quite often, commentaries on Dalit issues tend to assume that the identity has a national or international character. There are valid reasons to make that assumption. But we also encounter situations that challenge that notion. Manoranjan Byapari is a Dalit voice, whose biography is titled Interrogating My Chandal Life. He is now a Trinamool Congress MLA in West Bengal. Recently, he courted controversy by deriding Biharis who live in Bengal. The fact that he takes ownership of Bengali culture and language, and even smears the people of Bihar on account of that, is revealing of the multiple identities that every Indian negotiates on a daily basis.
Sharing water
A water-sharing agreement among Krishna basin States is a great example of cooperative federalism.
Community control
The BJP government in Karnataka is planning to free temples from state control, a move that is projected as undoing an alleged injustice to the Hindu community. Is that the case? Read here.
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