Successive electoral defeats have put the Aam Aadmi Party on unsure ground and given the BJP an edge in Delhi.
TWO years ago, he was spoken about as the potential face of the opposition against Narendra Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Today he is trying hard to resist a growing perception that he bit off more than he could chew in a hurry to emerge as a key player in national politics.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s national ambitions have been dealt a body blow by the unexpected defeat of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in successive elections during the months of March and April. Worryingly for him, the AAP’s latest defeat in the Delhi Municipal elections has not only weakened the party further in its former citadel but also put the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on a stronger footing in the national capital’s politics.
The BJP won despite the anti incumbency factor: it has been in control of the city’s three municipal corporations for 10 years. Solely riding on the strong support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi among voters, the BJP won 181 of 270 seats, while the AAP finished a distant runner-up with 48 seats followed by the Congress with 30 seats. Notably, the AAP lost half of its vote share in comparison with the 2015 Assembly elections as the BJP managed to convert the municipal elections into a referendum on the AAP administration’s two years in power.
The AAP fared poorly in the Assembly elections in Punjab and Goa and in the Delhi Assembly by election. The civic election results have further diminished the political momentum that Kejriwal had in his favour after the AAP’s historic victory in the 2015 Assembly elections. Clearly, “Brand Kejriwal”, as the Chief Minister and his party are referred to by some political observers, faces an unstable present and an uncertain future.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
