Politics of faith saved AAP; Party members believe Kejriwal learnt from mistakes

Bengaluru, Feb 10: Until the exit polls for the Delhi Assembly election were out, one could not have conceded the fact that the AAP could still manage to win Delhiites a second time over.

Kejriwal had been entrusted last time too during the Lok Sabha elections in 2013, but he left the battlefield just after 49 days, not even half-way through the 100-day honeymoon period.

The people were extremely disappointed and felt betrayed for what the party did. Many of its members even left the party for a 'better' one. But, to think of it, especially after today's turn of events when the AAP had a sweeping victory with 57 seats and BJP and alliances struggling with just 12, the former's potential to win the public mind needs to be analyzed.

The journey from a 'bhagoda' to a leader

The party's strength was its youth, their faith and their ideology. In fact, when a reporter asked one of the members whether Kejriwal will run away this time, he said in the negative. He further added that AK has learnt from his mistakes.

Of course, it was his party's faith again that restored the faith of the people in him.

Secondly, the work that was done by him, barring the dharnas and the protests, in those 49 days of leadership were commendable in many ways. He did a great job with the power and the water crisis, corruption and education.

Here is what he has been doing:

Power and Water

Dec 29: Delhi Jal Board chief transferred.
Dec 30: 700 litres of free water announced for households with regular water connection.
Dec 31: 50% power subsidy for those consuming up to 400 units.
Jan 1: CAG audit of power discoms ordered.
Jan 6: L-G backs CAG audit.
Jan 10: Helpline to report power cuts.
Jan 31: Govt threatens to cancel discom licences over outages.
Feb 3: DERC asked to cancel licences of discoms.

Anti-Corruption

Jan 6: 800 DJB employees transferred.
Jan 8: Anti-corruption help line announced, launched on Jan 13.
Feb 6: Fresh probe in Commomwealth Games' street light project.
Feb 7: Probe into fi nancial irregularities in construction of Salimgarh Bypass.
Feb 10: Probe in three DJB ‘scams'.

Education

Jan 4: Quota for Delhi students in DU colleges promised.
Jan 5: AAP volunteers take rounds of government hospitals to take stock of facilities.
Jan 7: Nursery admission helpline announced.
Jan 8: Infrastructure audit of government schools started.

Governance

Dec 28: Nine officials transferred, red beacons banned.
Jan 15: Govt says will remove Millennium Depot from Yamuna riverbed.
Jan 18: CM requests L-G to replace fi ve senior ACB offi cials.
Jan 23: Eight senior Delhi government offi cials transferred.
Jan 28: CAG audit of DIMTS (it operates the BRT in Delhi) ordered.
Jan 29: Govt seeks SIT probe into 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Feb 2: Govt plans to do away with MLA fund.
Feb 3: Cabinet clears Delhi Lokpal Bill.
Feb 4: Kejriwal promises to include Northeast history in school texts.
Feb 9: Govt plans to scrap the Bhagidari scheme.
Feb 12: Cabinet approves decision to hold special assembly session in a stadium.
Feb 13: Govt fails to table Jan Lokpal Bill in assembly, blames BJP and Cong for disruption.

Change for a reason

Arvind Kejriwal has changed for good and that showed in his campaigns. On asking what he had learnt from his past mistakes, he said,"I stopped personal attacks, which is where BJP went wrong this time. I am a people's man and I am here to serve the people not accuse anyone. I will be everybody's CM."

There is one more thing that added up to AAP's profile-their humbleness, which helped them reconnect to the masses. On asking a party member what he had to say about their ex-party member and now their opposition leader-Kiran Bedi, he said,"Madam is really nice and we respect her for what she is."

[Read: Updates on Delhi Assembly election results 2015]

That same idea was reiterated by Arvind Kejriwal who said,"I admire Kiranji and will not utter a single rude word against her."

The Delhi stage is all set for AAP now. It is a matter of time before we can actually judge Kejriwal whether he can be considered for a third chance (if required).

Till then, "Paanch Saal Kejriwal!"

OneIndia News