DUSU polls: The party's over for Arvind Kejriwal
The Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) polls, probably one of the most important university polls in India, were conducted last week. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), affiliated to the BJP, swept the polls by winning all four seats.
The Chhatra Yuva Sangarsh Samiti (CYSS), the youth wing of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was making its debut, failed to make a dent. Except for the post of vice president, where it finished second, it ended up fourth in all other posts. The National Students Union of India (NSUI), affiliated to the Congress, finished second overall. There were speculations that after the AAP's spectacular victory in the Delhi Assembly polls earlier this year, the CYSS might make an impressive debut, but miracles don't happen too often. Winning the DUSU polls was important as it would have helped AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal demonstrate that his popularity was still intact.
The result of the DUSU polls is indeed a mandate against Kejriwal, though not completely so, and also raise a few important questions:
Is Kejriwal's aura among the youth diminishing? Has the AAP's image taken a beating? Has Kejriwal and AAP forgotten the very principles on the basis of which they came to power?
Two points make this clear:
1. Loss in youth vote bank: The anti-corruption crusade by Kejriwal and the subsequent formation of the AAP was supported and taken forward in the country by the youth. Personally, I saw many of my friends convince their parents to vote for the AAP rather than the BJP. After the Lok Sabha 2014 debacle, the youth accepted Kejriwal's apology, forgave him and gave him a second chance for the Delhi elections. While the CYSS did get a good number of votes in the DUSU polls, clearly, the outcome indicates that the AAP has lost support amongst the youth voters.
2. Star-studded campaign failed: The publicity posters used by the CYSS had Kejriwal's picture on them. Celebrities Raghu Ram and Vishal Dadlani led a rock concert (possibly financed by the AAP) where they urged students to vote for the CYSS. Other AAP leaders and MLAs such as Manish Sisodia also campaigned, but all of it failed to create any impact.
Furthermore, there were also blatant poll code violations as the CYSS put many billboards and posters, which were clearly financed by the AAP and Kejriwal himself campaigned for them, which is a violation of the Lyngdoh committee guidelines. Such violations by the CYSS didn't help its cause to portray itself as a unique alternative.
It is clear that over the past few months, the AAP's popularity among the youth has decreased owing to various reasons. Here are three of them:
1. Confrontational politics: Ever since the AAP came to power, there has been a tussle between Kejriwal and Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) Najeeb Jung over several administrative issues, and Kejriwal had accused Jung to be a puppet of the BJP and termed it as a ploy to stop the AAP from working. His comments and tweets about administrative matters in Delhi were found contrary to what he had said earlier when the Congress was in power. This further affected his image. For instance, when the Congress was in power, chief minister Sheila Dikshit expressed her helplessness at the law and order situation in Delhi citing the Centre's control over the Delhi Police - something which Kejriwal had vociferously criticised. A few weeks back, Kejriwal cited the exact reason for his inability to take significant measures which was ridiculed by many on Twitter.
2. Intolerance to dissent within the party: The unceremonious exit of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan - the two most prominent intellectuals of the AAP - was a major setback. Many AAP supporters didn't take this kindly and vented their anger against Kejriwal. Furthermore, the recent suspension of two MPs from Punjab for speaking against the party and Kejriwal worsened the situation. The party, which was formed on the premise of "swaraj" and a clean democratic system, failed to implement those principles internally, and disheartened many young supporters who had actively campaigned and supported them.
3. Tilak Nagar incident: The infamous Tilak Nagar incident, where a girl, Jasleen Kaur, shared a picture of a guy on a bike and accused him of molesting her, had a serious effect. The whole incident which attracted immense outrage on social media and television debates, later turned out to be false and Jasleen was found to be an AAP member, as a result of which the AAP had to face a lot of ridicule and criticism. Though neither the AAP, nor any of their leaders might have asked her to do so, but clearly, it had a negative effect on the AAP's image.
Apart from the above-mentioned factors, one cannot ignore the fact that the ABVP and NSUI have been in the game for many years and the CYSS is just a newbie. Therefore, while one can sympathise with it for its effort, the outcome should act as a wake up call for Kejriwal who still seems to be in the Delhi elections after-party mode. He needs to realise that if he has to maintain his charisma and expand his party, promises need to be delivered on, controversies need to be avoided and confrontational politics minimised as much as possible.
Kejriwal's uncanny knack of attracting media attention and looking for disruptive ways to garner support will not work anymore. The Jan Lokpal Bill, which was one of his pet promises, hasn't been implemented yet. His open support for the JD(U)-RJD alliance in Bihar was also a big mistake. One can survive on rhetoric and gimmickry only for a limited time; but he if truly wants to establish the AAP as a different and credible national alternative, he must stick to his principles on the basis of which he was voted to power.