It came, it saw and it conquered. Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the new sheriff in town and with back-to-back election victories has supplanted Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi, the capital of India. AAP which is India’s youngest political party came up with some novel schemes which were welfarist for the public and perhaps freebies for their opponents.
The experiment in Indian politics began by Kejriwal may perhaps be copied by other states with Congress and BJP already getting sleepless nights. Pressure will now mount on them especially in states where they are in power to dole out freebies. The new model of subsidized electricity, water, health, education and other public services such as free transport for women in bus and metros have given much needed relief to the public especially when the economy is floundering.
Kejriwal has perhaps become the torch bearer for political parties looking to gather votes in return. West Bengal government has already announced free power of upto 75 units for each household. Maharashtra government is planning to provide free electricity upto 100 units per household. Commenting on these developments, Arvind Kejriwal said, “I am happy that cheap electricity is now an issue in the polity of the country. Delhi has shown the way to other states. In 21st century, citizens should get cheap electricity 24 hours a day.”
A political analyst expressing his views on the development said that public wants cheap electricity and water and it is gaining importance in political circles. Pressure will be on BJP and Congress governments and eventually states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and so on will be forced to follow suit. Uttar Pradesh government for example spends only 4 per cent of its budget on education whereas Delhi is spending 25 per cent of its budget on education. Political parties have to give relief to common men and the time to start it is now.
