The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary– Oct 12, 2022; Day 366

Ordinary men: On the Aam Aadmi Party’s Hindu politics

The Aam Aadmi Party is failing in its efforts to be all things to all people 

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is trying to expand its footprint (The area taken up by some object) beyond its cradle (Where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence) of Delhi. It is also seeking to capitalise on its success in Punjab, where it formed a government earlier this year, and which boosted that ambition. The party is now eyeing Gujarat, where the contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress went down to the wire (having a result that is not known until the end) in 2017, and elections are due later this year. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal is spending a lot of time in the State in the hope of displacing the Congress to emerge as the prime challenger to the BJP, which has been in power since the 1990s. The BJP faces significant anti-incumbency (sentiment in favor of voting out incumbent politicians) though the Hindutva sauce that it dishes out (Give or provide in small portions) generously made it more palatable (Acceptable to the taste or mind) than the Congress all this while. Mr. Kejriwal has an expanding catalogue of promises for Gujaratis. He has now promised a fully paid pilgrimage for Gujaratis, mainly senior citizens, to Ayodhya, after being labelled by the BJP as ‘anti-Hindu’. Mr. Kejriwal has never lost an opportunity to wear his Hindu credentials on his sleeve, but suddenly found himself on the back foot after Rajendra Pal Gautam, a Minister in AAP’s Delhi government — he has since resigned — took part in a gathering of Ambedkarites recently, where they had pledged to disown Hindu religion and its deities. Mr. Kejriwal gave the Dalit leader his marching orders.

The expulsion (The act of forcing out someone or something) of the Dalit leader from the AAP Council of Ministers in Delhi is in contrast with the complete backing that Mr. Kejriwal continues to offer another Minister who remains in office while being in jail on corruption charges. Therein lies the fundamental challenge to AAP’s national plan. The party had fashioned itself as an anti-corruption platform that offered good governance, transparency and accountability. Devoid of any organisational structure or political programme, AAP had adopted an all-embracing welfarism to entice (Provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion) voters. As time passes, this politics, projected as ideology-free, is unravelling (Become undone), though its potency still remains a major threat to both the Congress and the BJP. These two parties are targeting AAP on its governance record, corruption, and capacity. Central agencies and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi are methodically (In a methodical manner) cornering the Aam Aadmi Party. Mr. Kejriwal has been brazening it out (to continue in a confident way without showing shame or embarrassment) until now, but the barb (An aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect) of being ‘anti-Hindu’ appears to have shaken him. He has been wearing an Ambedkar badge alongside a Hindutva label, but the attempt to be all things to all people was never going to be sustainable. AAP’s capacity to be a radical platform for change or a challenge to divisive forces is faltering (Be unsure or weak) with its shaky governance record, subservience (The condition of being something that is useful in reaching an end or carrying out a plan) to Hindutva and brazen resistance to scrutiny.

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