Arvund Kejriwal has resigned as chief minister of Delhi after his pet anti-graft Jan Lokpal Bill was blocked by the opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state legislature on Friday. The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill) drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeks the appointment of an independent body that would investigate corruption cases and conclude the investigation within a year. It also envisages completion of trial in the next one year. Friday's developments bring the curtain down on a 49-day drama. It again raises the question whether Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) can evolve into a responsible political force with a clear vision and willingness to work within the constraints of a parliamentary democracy. Kejriwal represents something new and revolutionary in Indian politics. Or that was the impression created when his newly formed AAP made a stunning debut in the December 2013 election to Delhi Legislative Assembly. AAP, which is less than one year old, emerged as the second largest party in the assembly, relegating Congress Party, in power for 15 consecutive years, to third place. Kejriwal also defeated Delhi's longest serving Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. AAP fought and won election on a fierce and often personalized attack on Dikshit's Congress Party over corruption. During the campaign, Kejriwal promised to probe allegations of corruption against Dikshit and her government. But his political integrity and judgment was called into question when he sought and won Congress backing to form the government. If the AAP is different from the mainstream or traditional parties, it should have waited until it got a clear mandate from the people. “Politics as unusual” is how one commentator in India described the emergence of AAP. But what the Delhi public witnessed was the kind of political behavior they were all too familiar with. Unfortunately, they witnessed some unfamiliar things too. Soon after taking over, Kejriwal staged a protest in Delhi against the federal government led by the Congress. This was over the demand that the Delhi Police, now under the Federal Home Ministry, be made accountable to the Delhi administration. Though a legitimate demand, it was hardly the kind of issue for which a chief minister should hold a capital city to ransom. And this was followed by acts of vigilantism by some of his ministers who embarked on law enforcement against purported prostitution and drug-peddling in Delhi leading to a diplomatic ruckus. In one instance, they detained a group of Ugandan women and forced them to give urine samples. The result was that many in the middle class felt unhappy over the new party's penchant for street drama. They began to have doubts about its commitment to governance wondering if it has the vision to be a long-term player. The same lack of maturity was evident in the anti-corruption crusade too. Removing corruption is a great goal, and it is the all-pervasive corruption that has turned the people against the Congress. But a minority government (AAP has only 28 members in the 70-member assembly) can't enact laws with far-reaching implications, especially if the measure goes against the interests of its coalition partner or places it in an embarrassing situation. Worse still, Kejriwal filed a case against two federal ministers and industrialist Mukesh Ambani alleging irregularities in gas pricing. This is what led to the defeat of the anti-corruption bill. In the end, the measure could not even be introduced in the assembly. Forty-two legislators voted against its introduction. “From the scenes I have witnessed today, it is clear that we have to be in Parliament,” Kejriwal said Friday in his last speech to the Delhi Assembly. Can AAP repeat its good showing in Delhi at the national level? After what happened in the capital city during the last 49 days, nobody would be prepared to paint a rosy scenario about the party's prospects in the May general elections.
