
If Delhi assembly elections were not around the corner, Arvind Kejriwal may not have probably staged this show. In essence, he seems confident of being away from the chief ministerial chair for just a few months. This is marked by his stating that he “will not sit on that chair till the people announce their verdict… I will sit in the Chief Minister’s chair only after the order of the people.” This is his style of turning to people for their support and also asserting that he will be away from the chair only for a while. The whole exercise may well be assumed to be nothing more than a resignation-drama deliberately exercised for electoral reasons. That this is helping Kejriwal gain substantial media coverage stands out markedly.
Resignation-hype in politics may said to have assumed great importance in politics to gain media coverage and also be used as a strategic electoral card. A few days ago, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also tried this strategy but then appears to have abstained from this. To a degree, it does help in diverting attention from negative “news” propagated about the chief minister. Kejriwal hopes to get additional advantage that he stepped aside to let the concerned authorities, particularly voters take their decision regarding his image. This may also be viewed as a political gamble as rival parties/leaders’ primary aim would be to use this reason to add to their negative jargon about him laying stress on his being forced to step away from the chair. And after all Kejriwal is out only on bail.
This only suggests that “resignation-drama” may not make political moves -till the next assembly elections- as simple and easy as they seem for Kejriwal and his party. Let us not forget the political reality that Modi’s electoral strategy of banking on his mega-religious card failed to help him win the recent parliamentary elections and return to power on his own party’s strength. Kejriwal cannot ignore the reality that he also has been at the helm as Delhi chief minister for a fairly long time. Of course, he cannot be prevented from assuming that he still remains a favorite of Delhi’s electorate. When he first stepped on the political stage, with a newly founded party, he had to encounter Sheila Dikshit. Now, he has his own past record to combat before voters.
Would it be fair to assume that by selecting Atishi as the new chief minister, he has exercised an extremely shrewd political strategy? From his personal angle, he apparently is confident that he is least likely to be back-stabbed by Atishi where his own political aim is concerned. If AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) returns to power, he trusts Atishi to move aside and leave the chief ministerial chair for him. She has already stated that her goal is to ensure that Kejriwal returns as Delhi chief minister. It may be noted, Atishi played a deft political role as the party spokesperson while he was in prison. This also is a pointer to her being fairly good in handling media personnel.
Undeniably, AAP is primarily associated with Kejriwal’s name. Atishi stands nowhere in comparison to his political appeal and also that of Manish Sisodia. While the two were in jail, Atishi handled the task of running the Delhi government. In this context, she can be trusted with carrying on this task now by actually acting as the chief minister nominally also. To a degree, the subsequent course of developments on this front is quite strongly dependent on how does Kejriwal-ego react to Atishi literally sitting on “his” chair but also dominating media and political attention for quite some time. It is not a question of a just a few days but a phase that may spread over several months. Of course, on his part Kejriwal is going to try his best to have the elections advanced reportedly to this November. And he is least likely to feel comfortable on this move of his being sidelined, that is elections being held in the coming year, as scheduled, in February. Formally, as Kejriwal no longer remains the chief minister, his voice/role doesn’t have the importance as it earlier does. Now, the occupant of the key chair is Atishi. She’d be seated as head of Delhi cabinet meetings and so forth.
This strategic move of Kejriwal is directed at presenting a clean and untainted image of AAP with Atishi as chief minister before the voters. But AAP’s image, as mentioned earlier, is hardly linked with that of Atishi. People link the party primarily with Kejriwal and to a degree with Sisodia, both of whom have been released recently from jail. Yes, as Atishi handles the government, Kejriwal will have time to campaign extensively. But, voters’ decision is not likely to be dependent on only what Kejriwal propagates. Chances of their giving some importance to what his rivals say cannot be sidelined. Kejriwal’s opponents’ primary agenda is likely to be focus on charges levied against him and other members of his party. He is out of jail but on bail to contest the charges against him. Even if he succeeds in returning to power, while he may project this as guarantee of people’ faith in his “honesty,” their vote is not going to be accepted as proof of his “innocence” regarding the charges against him.
Kejriwal is a leader, whose importance is primarily confined to Delhi. He has made attempts to extend his party’s strength to other areas too. To a degree, he has succeeded which is partly proved by his party running the Delhi and Punjab governments. There is a possibility, his stay in jail followed by his resignation as Delhi chief minister may lead to decline in importance of his party and also his own within and outside Delhi. Of course, he expects his latest strategy to work otherwise. However, chances of this limiting his key battle – that of convincing people about his own image- cannot be minimized. He is not battling with Congress leader Sheila Dikshit, but his own role as the preceding chief minister and of course with Kejriwal-ego, which has been boosted for now by his own resignation!
Nilofar Suhrawardy is a senior journalist and writer with specialization in communication studies and nuclear diplomacy. She has come out with several books. These include:– Modi’s Victory, A Lesson for the Congress…? (2019); Arab Spring, Not Just a Mirage! (2019), Image and Substance, Modi’s First Year in Office (2015) and Ayodhya Without the Communal Stamp, In the Name of Indian Secularism (2006).