The Aam Aadmi Party is gearing up for elections for the third time in one year. Party chief and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal says that the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to deceive people by projecting it as a “fight” between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal, while the actual chief ministerial contest is between Kejriwal and Jagdish Mukhi. He concedes there is a ‘Modi wave’ in the country but that wouldn’t affect his party’ prospects in Delhi.
Here are the edited excerpts:
Do you think the upcoming Delhi elections will be a repeat of December 2013?
I think it will be better than that. We hope to get a clear majority. That is the reason we had to resign last time, as we were dependent on outside support of the Congress. The Congress and BJP had ganged up in the last few days in the Delhi assembly and didn’t allow us to do anything.
Will there be a triangular contest like it was in the last assembly polls?
I think it’s a bipolar contest. The Congress stands nowhere. Whoever votes for the Congress will waste his votes. It’s a direct contest between the AAP and BJP.
But BJP’s support base has gone up in the recent Lok Sabha polls…
I completely agree that in the Lok Sabha polls, there was a ‘Modi wave’. Similarly, we witnessed it in Haryana and Maharashtra also. But in Delhi, people are very clear in their minds that we voted for Modi at the Centre but will vote for Kejriwal in Delhi. One of the reasons that the belief has strengthened in the minds of people is because they saw (our) 49 days of governance, where prices came down and corruption also went down substantially. Now, the people want a recap of the 49-day governance.
Are you being too optimistic about your chances; is there anything to substantiate your claim?
I am talking about our internal survey, conducted only a month-and-a-half ago, where AAP got 47 per cent and BJP got 38 per cent vote share. There is a clear lead by nine per cent.
What will be your strategy in Delhi?
It will be to educate the people on 49 days of governance. I agree that a large section of the middle class is angry with us for resigning but when you ask who they will vote for, they say Aam Aadmi Party.
Will the Delhi Jan Lok Pal Bill continue to be part of your agenda for this election?
That was the very reason we resigned. Of course, this is a priority. But this time we won’t resign on any condition.
Do you think the recent Trilokpuri riots will polarise votes this time?
This is something very serious. The BJP has created a formula to orchestrate riots wherever there are elections. This is an attempt on their part is to polarise the votes. I would say that the middle class of Delhi has to decide whether they want this hate politics to be encouraged or not.
There has been no government in Delhi for the past eight months and you alleged that after your resignation, there was a rise in the corruption levels. Do you think AAP is to be blamed for it in the first place?
We are to be blamed only for our resignation but we wanted immediate elections. As soon as I resigned, there should have been immediate polls. For the last few months of anarchy in the state, both the Congress and BJP are responsible because they wanted to delay the elections. So how can we be blamed for the last eight months of anarchy that exists in Delhi?
Why do you think that the BJP was delaying the elections?
I met a senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader a few days ago who explained why BJP was running away from the elections. He says the calculation is that 83 per cent of the people in Delhi were direct beneficiaries of the water and electricity rate reductions -- which is huge. Then there is a large middle class and upper middle class segment who benefited from reduction in corruption -- transporters, small builders and traders. They will vote for us.
MUST READ: Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP effect
How do you propose to fight the perception of the middle class that you were an anarchist or AAP was a dharna party?
The middle class is angry because we resigned and not because of the dharna. Many people, on the contrary, had praised it. There is no middle class alienation… They were angry with us only when we had quit and that was because they liked our governance and wanted us to continue.
Your internal party survey shows that the middle class support has plunged from 28 per cent to 22 per cent.
I agree that the support has declined if you compare the state elections with the Lok Sabha polls. But they will come back because they are very clear in their minds when I talk to them. And in the BJP who will they vote for? The fight is between Kejriwal and Jagdish Mukhi. If they have faith in Mukhi, they will vote for him.
That is exactly what the BJP is asking: Who is Kejriwal to name BJP’s chief ministerial candidate? They have not declared Mukhi to be the CM candidate.
They should do it. Is Modi going to resign and become the CM of Delhi? They are projecting an artificial fight between Modi and me. It is not the case. They want to deceive people by projecting Modi. If Modi will come to ask for votes in Delhi, he will do it for Mukhi. People should know they are not voting for Modi.
Even if Modi pitches for someone else, do you think it will dent your support base?
In Delhi, I don't think it will affect us. In Delhi, people have an alternative.
But Modi has been getting BJP the votes…
That will not happen in Delhi, as AAP is contesting here. There was no such hope in the other two states.
What do you think of Modi’s stint in power so far?
It's been very high on bhashan (talk) but almost negligible on performance. That is what most of the people I talk to say.
Many senior leaders like Shazia Ilmi have quit AAP because of resentment. Has there been some course correction within the party?
Shazia left because she wanted to go to the BJP. It is her individual choice. Just as in a family, there are small conflicts but that gets sorted out. Similar is the case in our party as well. We have put many systems to place. In fact, last four months have been really good in terms of building the organisation, as ours was a new party. In the last four months, we have tried to put proper organisation structure and there is a massive expansion, especially in Delhi. Donations have also increased ever since polls were announced.
