Kejriwal’s Delhi Loss Proves Yet Again That Politicians Can’t Take People For Granted

Arvind Kejriwal put his national political ambition in a fast-track mode after becoming Delhi Chief Minister for the third time in 2020.As a consequence, AAP aggressively contested Assembly polls in Goa, Gujarat, Punjab while trying to expand to other areas.But elections are a costly affair in India and such a rapid political expansion requires funds. Delhi people strongly believed that Kejriwal and his political party benefited from the liquor policy scam. This was clearly visible when I travelled around Delhi during the last year’s General Elections

I wrote many times in the past. I am repeating it again. Indian voters are a matured lot. And they are becoming more and more mature with every election. So, they decide whom to vote for much before the election fever kicks in. Freebies, cash distribution during polls, caste politics, religious rhetoric and political games of one-upmanship will not deter voters from defeating a political party if push comes to shove. Therefore, humiliation invariably awaits politicians in power who take people for granted. That’s so because of growing maturity among voters.

Sadly, many politicians who come to power after much hard work don’t seem to show much maturity in understanding this basic feature of the present-day Indian democracy. Or are they conveniently ignoring it? Whatever may be the reason, such politicians do face the music.

For instance, take the case of Arvind Kejriwal who gained political prominence and national popularity thanks to the anti-corruption movement launched by social activist Kisan Baburao Hazare, popular as Anna Hazare, in early 2011. Kejriwal was a key member of that movement. Riding on the success of that movement, Kejriwal forayed into politics by launching Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in November 2012. A year later, AAP contested Delhi Legislative Assembly polls in December 2013 and emerged as the second largest party with 28 MLA seats out of total 70 against BJP’s 31.

Incidentally, he defeated Sheila Dikshit, the then sitting Chief Minister from Congress, in the New Delhi Assembly seat. Subsequently, he formed a government with the support of the Congress party, but that government survived only for 49 days! In the subsequent Lok Sabha polls in April 2014, BJP swept all seven MP seats in the national capital. Post these results, many thought it was the end of the road for Kejriwal in politics. But AAP bounced back in 2015 by sweeping the Delhi Assembly polls with 67 seats, and restricting BJP and Congress to three and zero respectively.

This contrasting trend in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls repeated in 2019 and 2020 because of immense maturity Delhi voters exhibited – they explicitly voted for AAP in Assembly polls and BJP in Lok Sabha polls. Even in the 2024 General Elections, Delhi voters opted for BJP candidates in all seven Lok Sabha seats despite AAP and Congress joining hands and contesting in alliance! Eight months later, AAP suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2025 Delhi Assembly polls as Delhi voters, departing from earlier path, opted for BJP even in the State polls.

In the results declared on February 8, AAP saw its tally reduced by 40 seats from 62 MLA seats in 2020 to 22 now, while BJP secured 48 seats, well above the half-way mark. Even Arvind Kejriwal lost his New Delhi Assembly seat which he won three times in a row. Some other key leaders of his party also suffered defeats. That clearly showed seething anger among voters against the AAP founder, his party and his senior colleagues. AAP scored massive victories in 2015 and 2020 Delhi Assembly polls despite the Modi wave in the parliamentary polls. Then why did it lose its electoral ground on its home turf this year? The primary reason is Arvind Kejriwal and his political ambition to emerge as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kejriwal first exhibited this trait when he contested against Modi in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi seat in the 2014 General Election. He put his national ambition in a fast-track mode after becoming Delhi Chief Minister for the third time in 2020. Consequently, AAP aggressively contested Assembly polls in Goa, Gujarat, Punjab while trying to expand to other areas.

The party failed miserably in Goa, made some inroads in Gujarat and succeeded in Punjab where it formed government in 2022. But elections are a costly affair in India and such a rapid political expansion requires funds. Furthermore, Arvind Kejriwal built his political career and his political party’s foundation on the anti-corruption plank. Obviously, there were lingering doubts as to how AAP raised funds for its aggressive political activities beyond Delhi. That was the time when Delhi liquor case with Arvind Kejriwal as a key accused, came to the fore.

The central agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigated the case, levelled charges that AAP used kickbacks from liquor syndicate for elections in Goa and other States. It is also said that these agencies also zeroed in on a money trail in the case in which Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister and BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, is also an accused. It’s for the courts to decide whether these charges are genuine or not as the verdict depends on the evidence the investigating agencies produce. But Delhi people strongly believed that Kejriwal and his political party benefited from the liquor policy scam.

This was clearly visible when I travelled around Delhi during last year’s General Elections. That’s why I wrote in this column a couple of times earlier that Kejriwal would never get sympathy for his arrest by CBI and ED in Delhi liquor policy case. I further wrote that the case would damage his electoral prospects. Though he tried to paint himself as a victim, that did not cut much ice with the Delhi voters.

Perhaps, they felt betrayed by Kejriwal as he was an anti-corruption crusader once. Anti-incumbency for being in power for over 10 years, frequent fights with the central government and Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor, and lack of focus on administration in the past few years also added fuel to the fire set off by corruption charges against AAP. Keeping his chief ministerial chair vacant after his resignation also left a bad taste among voters. It looked like Kejriwal’s party colleagues were treating him like a king who would come back and occupy it!

Anyway, in pursuit of his national ambition, Arvind Kejriwal himself undermined his image as anti-corruption crusader and took the interests of Delhi people for granted. His defeat in recent Assembly polls goes on to prove yet again that politicians who take people for granted will be pay a heavy price in elections. Moreover, politicians who behave like kings after coming to power will mercilessly be shown the door by voters at the first instance itself. That’s an undeniable reality.