What swung the vote in Delhi polls: Corruption
AAP's rise from the anti-corruption movement faced turmoil with corruption charges against leaders, dimming its incorruptible image and Kejriwal's appeal.
When the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged from the cauldron of the anti-corruption movement in 2012, it marked a moment of rupture in Indian politics. The summer of discontent that had swept the Capital bestowed the infant party and its muffler-wrapped technocrat leader with a sheen that differentiated it from every other outfit, old or young. The AAP signified a break with grubby deal-making, and its leaders were seen as transparent, accountable and grounded. Even when the Bharatiya Janata Party’s juggernaut appeared to be steamrolling its way through the Indian political landscape, this armour helped the AAP deflect many attacks and keep itself relevant nationally, despite controlling a small city-state. When the party later shifted focus to things such as delivery, the air of incorruptibility remained at the core of its brand.
Two years ago, the first dents appeared on that armour. That summer, a much-publicised liquor policy ran into the first allegations of corruption. As charges mounted and central agencies entered the fray, politics took over. One senior leader after another was charged with corruption and sent to jail – Satyender Jain, Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia. When then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in the spring of 2024 – with just months to go for the general elections – virtually the entire front line leadership of the party was behind bars. One court after another denied the leaders bail, and some even commented that prima facie, the charges appeared serious and credible. To be sure, the Opposition repeatedly said that the allegations were trumped up and a political ploy to weaken the party. But each news cycle brought a fresh charge or leak from a federal agency, a barrage of barbs from the BJP leaders, and visuals of AAP leaders being taken in for questioning or to prison. Each news cycle was a fresh blow on the armour of incorruptibility.
Last autumn, it appeared that the AAP had finally recovered. Most of its major leaders – and most importantly, Kejriwal – were out of jail. The party’s mood was triumphant, raring to paint the string of bail orders as vindication of its stand that the central government was out to victimise a fledgling outfit. There even seemed to be a modicum of public sympathy. But even as the excise policy coverage was losing steam, the BJP dialled up the rhetoric on another allegation – that of Kejriwal spending lavish amounts of public money to fund extravagant renovations of his official residence. The BJP coined the term Sheesh Mahal (palace of mirrors), built miniature models of the residence to drive home the point that not only was Kejriwal corrupt, he had used public money for his personal comfort – the antithesis of the hardworking, middle-class, unassuming aam aadmi (common man). To be sure, the AAP denied all allegations and tried to point the finger at the Prime Minister’s residence. But the mud-slinging hurt the AAP more; it diminished the USP of a party that prided itself on being different. A last-minute controversy on the tabling of CAG reports cemented the perception that the AAP was just another party.
In effect, the steady drip of corruption allegations since 2022 – most of which remain unsubstantiated or unproven in court – splintered the AAP’s armour of incorruptibility and severed its umbilical cord link to the anti-corruption moment from 2011. It dimmed the personal appeal of Kejriwal, reducing him from a maverick crusader to another politician fighting to save his government. It pushed the AAP from its perch.
For the first time since its inception, the AAP was now wrestling with a national hegemon in a messy match of politics as usual. On February 8, it came up short. And how!