ARVIND KEJRIWAL
States, the resolution noted that “the non-bjp State governments along with all democratic forces should come together to resist such assaults on federalism and in defence of States’ rights. Safeguarding federalism, the basic feature of our Constitution, is part of the struggle against authoritarian centralisation.” Even though the regional parties had embraced the neoliberal trajectory, and shifted political positions displaying political opportunism, the conflicts between many of them leading State governments and the BJP had sharpened. Many of them were under pressure due to the misuse of Central agencies and therefore supported the ruling party in Parliament.
Sitaram Yechury pointed out that despite the harassment by Central agencies, some regional parties like the DMK in Tamil Nadu or the NCP in Maharashtra (the NCP is a constituent of the LDF in Kerala), the RJD in Bihar or the SP in UP were playing a major role in taking on the BJP in their States.
The political resolution made it clear that the Left was willing to work to- gether with the regional parties in common struggles against anti-people policies of the central government and in defence of secularism against communal forces.
But their political positions needed to be taken into account while working out a tactical approach with them.”
The political line of the party is clear that it will
“cooperate with secular opposition parties in Parliament on agreed issues. Outside
Parliament the party would work for the broadest mobilisation of all secular forces against the communal agenda. The
Party and the Left will independently and unitedly work with other democratic forces, on an issue to issue basis, fight assaults of neoliberalism, authoritarian onslaughts against democracy, democratic rights, suppression of dissent by the use of draconian laws.”
T.K. Rajalakshmi
“I don’t want to defeat anyone, I want the country to win,” said Arvind Kejriwal, when nudged on the question of “opposition unity” in the 2024 general election.
Such nebulous articulation on a question of profound national import is neither uncharacteristic nor unwitting for Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is known to change from secular to Hindu-nationalist raimentquickly and frequently, making him suspect in the eyes of many opposition leaders who feel they must join hands to staple together the issues of unemployment, price rise and the assault on institutions into a commanding national narrative.
The politically savvy Delhi Chief Minister thinks differently. If some of his counsels are to be believed, his goalpost is not partnership in power but the pinnacle of power—and he is willing to go about it incrementally. He is apprehensive that his joining the stable of regional leaders will relegate him as “one among many Modi baiters”, restricting personal dynamism and a degree of assertiveness, desirable traits of a national leader in contemporary politics.
This, together with an underlying belief that Modi cannot be replaced by mismatched regional parties with no single leader to rival his aptitude in national security and foreign affairs and his capacity to animate diverse audiences across India, draws Kejriwal away from them. He only partly conceals his disdain for an anti-modi front. “I don’t understand their alliance of ten or more parties,” he pointed out recently.
Kejriwal and his team, say insiders, have been carefully examining voting patterns in several big-ticket State elections. These include the ones in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where the opposition (either led by a major regional party or the Congress) stopped short of toppling the incumbent BJP/NDA governments despite the voters’ many palpable grievances and the ominous backdrop of the migrant labourers’ crisis and a year-long farmers’ agitation that Modi’s critics believed would script an electoral revolt for his party.
In AAP’S understanding, the BJP’S constant berating of the Congress and regional parties as anti-hindu, combined with other facets of right-wing populism that have floated in the Hindi heartland for years, have crystallised into a sentiment among a section of the electorate that voting for them would result in an inconclusive muddle, making the BJP somewhat immune to failure in governance.
The Uttar Pradesh elections bore this out. Despite constant talk of non-yadav OBCS’ resentment with the BJP, illustrated by the defection of OBC heavyweights such as Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini to the SP, the BJP and its allies secured 66 per cent of the Kurmi votes besides 64 per cent of the Koeri, Maurya, Kushwaha and Saini votes, as per a Csds-lokniti postpoll survey of March 2022.
Those who have been counselling the AAP feel that constituencies such as these, enough in number to tilt the scale of elections, are more guided by selfish interests rather than the call to thwart the right-wing invasion of democracy, insisting that it avoid a head-on collision with Modi, and focus on countering the “Hindu victimhood” narrative fed by him by appropriating elements of the BJP’S identity politics. In a recent rally at Rajkot in Gujarat, Kejriwal launched a temple pitch, promising to send senior citizens to a pilgrimage in Ayodhya in airconditioned coaches. “Did the BJP send anyone to Ayodhya in last 27 years from Gujarat?” he asked scornfully.
As for Kejriwal’s immediate game plan, a source from the AAP said: “To replace the Congress wherever it is locked in a bipolar contest with the BJP.” A long, candid conversation with him underscored that the thinking within AAP is that despite a surge of powerful regional leaders, the place for a principal opposition party is sacrosanct in Indian polity, illustrated by the Congress’ near 20 per cent vote share in 2014 and 2019 general elections despite the BJP’S virulent attack on it. It is this 20 per cent of steadfast anti-bjp votes that the AAP aims to cull in order to vault to national prominence before nibbling at other parties’ support bases.
The AAP believes that its determination, energetic cadre and the captivating story of its ascent to power in two States in less than a decade of its formation offer a stark contrast to the internecine warring factions within the Congress and at times muddled articulation of its leader Rahul Gandhi, discredited by years of BJP’S ruthless campaign. It is confident that persuading Congress voters to switch to AAP will not be difficult. This line of thinking was betrayed when AAP’S young Turk Raghav Chadha, exulting at the party’s success in Punjab, declared, “AAP will be the Congress’ national and natural replacement.”
Not surprisingly, both the BJP and the Congress have begun to assail Kejriwal in a sharper and more vindictive tone. During the Punjab election earlier this year, the two parties alluded that the Delhi Chief Minister was prokhalistani. Their apprehensions are easy to understand. Kejriwal’s age, fluency in Hindi and his image of a leader who delivers, unscathed by any charge of corruption, all hand him the potential to emerge as the most significant claimant for power in a fractured electoral field.
Some may point out that the AAP’S foray in Goa and Uttarakhand, where it polled 6.8 per cent and 3.3 per cent votes, respectively, were unimpressive, while it was a non-starter in Uttar Pradesh despite an assiduous yearlong campaign helmed by prominent leader Sanjay Singh. But the fact that the BJP retained all three States is the key to AAP’S strategists, as it prepares to joust the Congress from the opposition scene. It is this message that the party is planning to relay in election-bound Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh where the Congress has so far been the BJP’S only major adversary, besides Karnataka where it shares the opposition space with the Janata Dal (Secular).
While it is improbable that the AAP can immediately replace the Congress in any of these three States or in 2024, public interest in the grand old party will be drastically reduced if it fails to improve its electoral performance. In the AAP’S calculation, both Congress and a third front have only dim hopes of scuppering the BJP’S comeback to power in 2024. By sharpening its attack on the Congress and distancing itself from the regional parties, the AAP is aiming to secure its place as a credible force that India may choose when it has had enough of Narendra Modi.
The path to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg is arduous and accident-prone. But so were the ones to Delhi and Punjab.