Two days after submitting his resignation as Delhi Chief Minister to Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena and announcing his plans to vacate his official bungalow, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal showed signs that he was not as impulsive or immune to the allure of power as he had been when he first took office in December 2013. At that time, he had resigned after just 48 days. As a dedicated activist who had ousted the Congress regime of Sheila Dikshit through a movement against corruption, he resigned when he failed to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed in the Delhi Assembly. He sought a fresh mandate, even though his government was ironically supported by Congress from the outside.
Kejriwal Is Rebuilding His Reputation
A decade later, after winning two consecutive terms in office, Kejriwal's idealism and ideology appear inconsistent. He seeks a fresh mandate to become Delhi chief minister (CM) again and wants to break free from the restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court while granting bail in the corruption cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). However, the AAP made it clear that Kejriwal would vacate his official residence at 6 Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines - his home since 2015 - only if he received suitable accommodation in Delhi's Lutyens Zone, given that he is the leader of the sixth-largest party in the country. This implies that the responsibility for helping Kejriwal vacate his "Sheesh Mahal" would fall on the Modi government, considering he is a Z-plus protectee. All this suggests that his decade in office has undoubtedly "corrupted" this Magsaysay award-winning activist.
Moreover, emerging from a six-month stint in jail on corruption charges related to the liquor policy case, Kejriwal's life has come full circle. He is desperate to restore his image and regain credibility among the chattering classes in Delhi. Yes, he has been trying to do all the right things, and he wants to turn back the clock while retaining some perks of office. He has no problem stepping down as chief minister and engaging with the public again; however, he is not comfortable returning to his old NGO mode.
A Smart Move
He refrained from promoting his wife, Sunita, as chief minister, knowing such a move could irritate the middle class. He also chose not to prioritise political correctness by selecting a Dalit chief minister. Instead, he opted for the suave, Oxford-educated Atishi, who is recognised as the driving force behind reforming Delhi's government schools. With a reputation for being understated, Atishi embodies the girl next door. It is said her priority will be to implement schemes like the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, a monthly assistance program of ₹1,000 for women-targeting the 6.7 million female voters in the capital.
Will a woman chief minister and his own resignation help Kejriwal regain his moral standing in Delhi just a few months ahead of the February 2025 elections? Only time will tell. While Atishi has set the tone for a Kejriwal comeback by projecting him as the "only CM of Delhi", it remains to be seen whether Kejriwal can convince voters to elect him for a record fourth time (after 2013, 2015, and 2020). Can the AAP chief effectively leverage his resignation after being jailed on corruption charges?
BJP Not Very Concerned
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) circles are unconcerned about Kejriwal's clever attempts to reinvent himself. Sources say they are confident they will effectively counter his penchant for drama in the coming months. However, a segment of the Delhi BJP is worried about the AAP's strategy to shed its incumbency by changing its chief minister at the last minute and introducing a new face, Atishi. "So far, we have had running battles against Kejriwal. But the focus of the battle against Kejriwal was always fought by our Lieutenant-General, V.K. Saxena. He has no skin in our political game. We have no popular face to take on Kejriwal. We have changed three BJP chiefs to take on the AAP in the last decade. We do not have a popular leader in Delhi," lamented a BJP MLA.
Top party managers, however, dismissed such a bleak scenario for the BJP. "If you recall, we faced a similar dismal outlook regarding the BJP's prospects during the unified Municipal Council of Delhi elections in November-December 2022. Kejriwal was saying that the BJP wouldn't get more than 20 seats. We shocked everyone by winning 104 seats, while the AAP won 134," recalled an RSS functionary. Regarding the upcoming Delhi polls, party managers asserted that it is almost a given that the BJP does not enter elections with a chief ministerial candidate.
Who Will Be BJP's CM Face?
"In most state elections, we have gone without a chief ministerial face - whether in Odisha, Assam (when Sonowal was CM), Maharashtra, or even Uttar Pradesh (in 2017, before Yogi Adityanath became CM for the first time), as well as in Rajasthan. It has yielded good results," vouched a party source.
So, what is the buzz about involving former Union Minister Smriti Irani in the party's membership drive in Delhi? Could she be the chief ministerial face? "She has only been assigned a task. The media takes note only when a high-profile person is involved. That's all there is to it for now," noted a Delhi BJP leader wryly.
(Lakshmi Iyer is a journalist who has been covering politics for four decades in Delhi & Mumbai. She is on X @liyer)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author