Victory in the 2020 Delhi Assembly election has given a new lease of life to the Aam Aadmi Party’s hopes of expansion beyond the national c...
Victory in the 2020 Delhi Assembly election has given a new lease of life to the Aam Aadmi Party’s hopes of expansion beyond the national capital. Post 2015, similar hopes were kindled by the party’s foray into Punjab and then Goa, but the results did not do much to aid its national ambitions. This second victory has rekindled such hopes again, but signals on its limitations are already visible.
The events of last week have brought Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his new political experiment into glaring public attention. Fresh from a second landslide victory against the much-touted election behemoth of the Bharatiya Janata Party, AAP’s reaction to the riots has been woefully insufficient at best, and unconscionable politicking at worst.
This seriously brings into question the possibility of expansion of the party beyond the urban-educated-service-class landscape of Delhi. In the following paragraphs, I argue that to survive and grow in contemporary Indian politics, sitting on the fence on questions of ideology is not a luxury any party can afford.
BJP = Hindutva + Welfare
Polarisation can be a slippery slope for any political party. On one hand, it increases the identification strength of your party – it deepens party affiliation among existing voters and...
