A party from zero became hero after Delhi assembly elections – twice, in December 2013 and then in February 2015. Arvind Kejriwal and AAP encashed the hope of the common man (aam aadmi) for good governance and corruption free system.
But today, AAP has lost to BJP in MCD polls. Even the supporters of the BJP accept that party’s work in MCD has not been stellar, yet the voters preferred the BJP (to be fair, they gave tickets to new people) over AAP.
AAP is blaming the EVMs for the defeat, but honestly, they need to wake up and smell the coffee. They seem to have rejected Election Commission’s suggestion of introspection, yet, I, as an aam aadmi, would suggest the same. And I will help them with some points to start with.
There are three important points for a political party and a political leader to win an election.
The first point in the list is that of party workers. Kejriwal sir, your men (and women) on the ground play one of the key roles in winning elections. They should be confident about the abilities of the leader as well as believe strongly in the party’s ideology. One of the reasons for the demise of Congress in 2014 general elections was the lack of this confidence in party workers for Rahul Gandhi as a leader and were confused about party’s ideology. AAP had developed a very good team of ground level worker who were passionate about the party, so you won twice in Delhi. But are you confident that you still have the same army on ground? I have observed that on the social media, there are plenty of AAP supports fighting with everyone, but is there anyone fighting in the real world?
The second point in the list is the prior work done by party. During Delhi assembly election, Aam Aadmi Party was fighting election as rookie, so this was not a factor. But after more than two years of running a state government, you can’t expect to be treated as a debutant. Kaam bolta hai, you know. Your ministers were accused of scams and money laundering. The Law Minster was found with fake law degree and Women & Child Development Minister was accused of sexual exploitation. Even Mohalla Clinics, touted and acknowledged as good work, were marred in corruption charges. And of course, the promise of free wi-fi and surveillance cameras & special commandos for women’s safety never got fulfilled. So Aaam Aadmi Party ranked low here despite the claim of Free water and Half electricity bill.
The third and most important point in the list is the public image of the leader and the party. In era of social media and WhatsApp, a leader’s image can be built overnight and get tarnished in the same time. You just need to err a couple of times and that could prove fatal. You have to admit that not just a couple of times, you have erred multiple times. Earlier, you used to accept your mistakes and promise to work on them (like you did in 2015 assembly polls by apologising for resigning too soon in your first stint), but now, you and your party have almost made their minds that you will never accept that you can be wrong or you can make mistakes. Look, even now you are blaming the EVMs instead of accepting defeat.
As an employee in corporate sector, something I learned is that to be a successful person, you should come with solutions, not just point out problems or give excuses for not finding solutions. If my boss wants to listen to excuses only, there are plenty of people he can hire. But it’s doesn’t work that way. He hires those who can provide solutions. Aam Aadmi (the voters) is the boss in a democracy.
Please ask yourself, have you not been destroying your own and party’s image on social media? Tweeting about Modi blaming him all day long and re-tweeting stupid conspiracy theories can not create a good image. BJP can try to paint you as dharna-drama party, but you are only helping them by behaving the same way. And the boss is watching all this.
That’s all for now. It’s time for AAP and Arvind Kejriwal to introspect. If they don’t start building something positive before the next election, even Arvind Kejriwal’s personal election deposit will be forfeited next time.
