What is common between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal? Apart from developing a personality cult around themselves, both came to power promising the moon. They are in complete control of their respective parties and governments. Both are now struggling to fulfill the huge expectations they had created. Both are seen as control freaks. Modi came with the slogan of “Achche Din” and Kejriwal with the slogan of “paanch saal Kejriwal”. Judging the Modi government in one year or Kejriwal in 100 days may not be fair, as they have been elected for a full five-year term. However they are under microscopic scrutiny.
For instance, Kejriwal was the first to put a road-block in the path of the Modi juggernaut but is his government going the right way? He took oath as chief minister on the Valentine’s Day in February and if any one expected the honeymoon to last at least six months, he must be sorely disappointed. The party’s earlier innings was marked by sit-ins, conflicts with public utilities and an ugly power struggle with the Centre. From day one of his current term, Kejriwal has been surrounded by controversies, party infighting, personal health problems, and public spat with the Lt. Governor and the Centre. But the mandate was for governance and not for drama and confrontation.
What has AAP achieved in the past 100 days? There have been efforts to fulfill some election promises. Kejriwal has set up a Delhi dialogue commission. To mark the completion of its 50 days in power he revived the 1031 helpline to tackle corruption. Eleven days after forming the government he delivered the big-ticket election promise of cheaper water and power. He has opened up the making of Delhi budget in 11 select constituencies. The AAP government has eased norms for e-rickshaws drivers, announced revision of auto fares every April, amended the VAT to help the traders, and given a Rs 50,000 compensation to farmers per hectare for damage inflicted by unseasonal rains – the highest ever by any government in the country. The AAP government has also decided to form its own education board as well as revamp the education act. It has successfully used the ESMA to deal with the DTC strike as well an agitation by the government doctors.
However, these are overshadowed by the negative impact of some of the AAP government’s controversial actions. The chief minister has practically taken on almost every stakeholder — the Lt Governor, the bureaucracy, the police, the media, the Central government, Delhi municipal corporations, the BJP, the Congress and dissidents in his own party.
Kejriwal should realise that the art of governance is quite delicate and that he faces many challenges. The first is about dealing with the Centre. Is it going to be a long fight or will he give up his confrontational tactics? When he took over he was conciliatory and said he would not take a confrontational path. The most noticeable thing in the past 100 days was his power tussle with Lt. Governor Jung over the appointments, postings and transfers of senior IAS officers. Now the Delhi Assembly wants to impeach the Lt Governor! The skirmishes with the Centre are likely to continue in the months ahead. The crisis continues but perhaps learning form the mistakes of the past, deputy chief minister Sisodia claims the AAP government would not quit midterm.
Secondly Kejriwal’s foremost challenge is securing full statehood for Delhi. The state government is a little more than a Union Territory but less than a full state. Getting full statehood for Delhi is Kejriwal’s dream. The predecessor Delhi governments had been demanding full statehood but going by the mood at the Centre this may not happen. So the fight is going to be long and ugly.
Thirdly, the immediate challenge is the summer and the searing heat. It will be difficult to meet the demand for water and power consumption and getting water from Haryana is going to be a big issue. The impending power tariff hike is again a check on the government’s populist policies. The funds shortage of the civic agencies and disruption of sanitation services need to be addressed. Above all, Kejriwal has to fulfill his promise of passing the Jan Lokpal Bill and Swaraj Bill for which he gave up power last time.
Fourthly, having won an overwhelming majority in the Assembly, the party now needs to hit the ground running and fulfill its poll promises – many of them freebies. There are some basic promises in the AAP manifesto like making 20 new colleges, 500 new government schools, building 2,00,000 public toilets, creating eight lakh jobs in the next five years, reducing pollution, regularizing contractual posts, controlling price rise and so on. How will the AAP government raise the resources?
Since Kejriwal derives his strength from the party, he should pay attention to ending the factional fights and develop a second line of leadership in Delhi and in other states like Punjab where he has 4 M.Ps. Punjab is going to polls in 2017. Above all the AAP needs to keep its image intact and should resolve the internal conflicts as soon as possible and direct all its energies towards ensuring better governance.
Overall, Kerjiwal has a long way to go if he does not want to disappoint then people who voted for AAP and have great expectations. This is only the beginning of the term and he still has a chance to prove his credentials. (IPA Service)
Kalyani Shankar
