Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), a research organization that aims at “constructively impacting the policy formulation process with emphasis on good governance practices, efficient implementation mechanisms and evidence-based policy-making including policy-audit and evaluation” has published a comprehensive evaluation of the Aam Aadmi Party’s manifesto for the 2015 Assembly Elections.
As per PPRC’s assessment, the AAP has failed to fulfill 67 promises it made in its 2015 assembly elections manifesto and 3 misleading ones. Here are some of its failed promises as per the research organization’s report:
1. Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill
It was one of Kejriwal’s flagship promises when he established the Aam Aadmi Party. He resigned over it after 49 days during his first stint as Chief Minister. However, even after 4 years in power with an overwhelming majority, the party has failed to pass any law in this regard.
2. Full Statehood for Delhi
AAP promises to work within the constitutional framework and use its government’s “moral and political authority” to push for Delhi’s statehood for the betterment of the citizenry. However, as is clear, such a move can only be passed by the Parliament of India. In the past four years, instead of pursuing dialogue with relevant authorities, the Aam Aadmi Party chose to pick fights with constitutional authorities which have had a negative impact on the governance of Delhi.
3. Electricity Bills to be reduced by half
One of AAP’s many unrealistic promises was to reduce electric bills by half. Evaluating that promise, the report states, “The AAP government has failed to reduce the electricity bills of Delhi residents by half and the very claim is a farce.” It adds, “Electricity bills have not been reduced by half at all. The net charges have increased overall.”
4. Water as a Right
The AAP had promised universal access to water for all residents of Delhi at affordable prices as a basic right. The Delhi Jal Board Act was to be amended to make clean drinking water a right for people. As it turns out, the government failed in this regard as well. Over 1 lakh 50 thousand complaints were registered in connection with water supply in 2017.
The report states, “The number of complaints registered for ‘no water supply’ increased from 34,554 in 2015 to 52,100 in 2017, which is an increase of 51%, while complaints relating to ‘contaminated water’ rose from 27,227 in 2015 to 33,884 in 2017, an increase of 24%.”
5. Building 2,00,000 Public Toilets
The Aam Aadmi Party had promised to build 1.5 lakh toilets in slums and another 50,000 in public places, half of which were to be for women. However, as per the CAG report of 2018, not a single toilet was constructed and the funds allocated for the purpose by the central government remains unused.
Apart from these, various other promises such as the promises to build 500 new government schools, twenty new degree colleges, CCTVs in public places and buses, women’s security force, free WiFi, pollution reduction and others remain unfulfilled.
The report concludes, “The AAP government has failed completely in the last four years and it has not been able to deliver on its promises made in its manifesto for assembly elections of 2015. Time and again, they have given different excuses and tried to shift the goalposts.” It adds, “The Aam Aadmi Party is befooling the people with the promise of full statehood, which is nothing but a farce, as AAP is not even fighting the 10% of the seats which are required to pass a bill in the parliament.”
The manifesto review was conceived by and completed under the guidance of Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Sumeet Bhasin. Sahasrabuddhe is a Rajya Sabha MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
