For he who fights and runs away, May live to fight another day
- Oliver Goldsmith, The Art of Poetry on a New Plan
On March 11 this year, the early arrivals at 6, Flag Staff Road needed no more confirmation. Everyone was confident – the feedback from Punjab was more than encouraging. In anticipation, Arvind Kejriwal’s residence was deked up with balloons and festoons with speakers already blaring victory songs. The party was on. Counting would settle only the margins of victory, supporters said. A giant TV screen on the lawns would confirm that. A victory in Punjab would be one giant step for AAP outside Delhi.
As the results started pouring in and the Congress leapfrogged both the Akalis and APP to establish an unassailable lead, the crowd started to thin and music petered out.
Those close to Kejriwal say their leader was visibly “disappointed” that day. He couldn’t fathom how a “sure victory” could turn into a defeat. So confident was the AAP chief that he had hoped a victory in Punjab would give AAP the momentum to cruise through the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections.
This unexpected defeat had an impact on the party’s MCD campaign and on its star campaigner. Kejriwal in Punjab addressed 7-8 rallies a day. During MCD polls he did only a few each day. Often even the media was not informed of CM’s campaign schedule.
MCD polls over, there was a short period when AAP joined issues with the Election Commission over tampering of EMVs. Arvind Kejriwal, since then, has maintained a radio silence.
Where is Arvind Kejriwal?
“He’s with the people of Delhi,” say AAP leaders.
His aides claim, Kejriwal devotes all his mornings to meeting people. He listens to their concerns patiently and often calls up officials with instructions on how to solve their problems. “Anyone can go and meet him,” an MLA said.
It’s a course correction of sorts for the leader who was accused by the Opposition of being the non-resident CM of Delhi. One whose heart was in Punjab.
Meetings done, he often drives to his own Assembly constituency – New Delhi. “He makes it a point to travel there every day and check whether schools, hospitals and government services are running properly. He also meets local residents. He is rebuilding the trust of the people,” says the aide.
Kejriwal’s Twitter handle, which would often launch scathing attacks at Modi and other opponents, has now limited itself to mostly tweeting Delhi government updates. And this “reorientation” towards Delhi is not just limited to social media.
Is The 'War on Modi' Too Costly For Kejriwal?
For someone who once described Prime Minister Modi as a “coward” and “psychopath”, Kejriwal is speaking in tempered tone. Is this a well thought out course correction?
A senior Aam Aadmi Party leader said Kejriwal has zeroed in on the reasons for party’s defeat in Punjab and MCD. “We have all been studying the responses that people have been giving to Arvind Ji’s statements. Arvind is not really unpopular. Only his attacks on Modi are. Attacking Modi has proved to be really costly.”
Kejriwal, of late, has also been less confrontational with Centre-appointed Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
However, there are some others in his inner circles who do not see it as a tactical retreat.
“You see in March we were fighting elections in two states. Immediately after that, the MCD elections were upon us. The politics were concentrated in the span of a few months. Now, we are in – for lack of a better term – peace times. When there is no election around the corner, a CM will obviously devote his full attention to governance.”
Kejriwal's 'Nayak' Moment
For a leader who would tweet at the drop of the hat, Kejriwal has not held a press conference in the last two months.
AAP-run social media handles have also tampered down to hashtag #DelhiKaNayak with images and videos of Kejrwial visiting JJ Clusters, hospitals and schools.
The Arvind Kejriwal in his latest avatar is seen interacting with residents of the New Delhi constituency, meeting wrestlers at an Akhara or walking through the water-logged and broken streets of Bawana.
Politician, like doctors, are the best judge of the public pulse. Posturing apart, they are gifted with an uncanny knack to comprehend the general mood like no one else. In that sense Arvind Kejriwal has been a quick learner. His transformation from activism to politics is almost complete.
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