ON THE MORNING of April 5, 2011, in a lane adjoining Jantar Mantar―the protest hotspot of the capital―a small crowd had gathered for the launch of India Against Corruption’s campaign to demand a Jan Lokpal law. (In the coming days, the number would swell exponentially.) Social activist Anna Hazare―the face of the agitation―was seated on a raised platform, having just begun his hunger strike. Standing on the edge of the stage was a man keen to be out of the spotlight.
When mediapersons approached the small-statured man with a moustache for information, he jumped off the stage and spoke earnestly about the campaign. The man was Arvind Kejriwal, the architect of the agitation. Kejriwal, already a noted transparency activist and Magsaysay award winner, was still not nationally known. That was about to change in a big way.
The IAC campaign was the precursor to the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party, which happened over a year later, and marked the entry of Kejriwal into politics. The anti-corruption crusader and the man who wanted to transform the system was now inside the system.
From a fervent activist who worked out of a one-room office in the congested lanes of Seemapuri to putting together one of independent India’s most impactful agitations and then registering the most shocking of electoral victories in Delhi in 2013, it was a rapid transformation for Kejriwal. His party went on to win Punjab and has been accorded the national party status. It is also one of the most prominent members of the opposition INDIA alliance, and he is one of its best recognisable faces.
The past decade has, however, also seen many of Kejriwal’s compatriots in the IAC campaign or those who were among the founding members of the AAP either leave him over the alleged compromises he made with the original cause or fall by the wayside or find themselves edged out.
Kejriwal received flak for his stance on the communal riots that took place in Delhi in 2020, with critics saying he was more focused on carrying out a balancing act and failed to deal with the issue head on. A question often asked is about the ideology of Kejriwal and his party, and there are no clear answers. He has said he is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and tries to follow his example. He has also often said that his ideology is staunch nationalism and working to alleviate the problems of the people. His party voted in favour of revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. In the Delhi elections of 2020, he negotiated the communal landmines set up by the BJP in the backdrop of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the protests against it by proclaiming his devotion to Lord Hanuman. However, party leaders say there is nothing wrong in Kejriwal or other AAP leaders owning up to their Hindu identity. This, they said, did not mean that they were anti-Muslim.
Asked after the Delhi election in 2013 whether he would stay the course as a politician, Kejriwal had told THE WEEK, “I am a lifelong politician. I am not going to quit. My aim is to remove corruption from the entire country, and I will keep fighting till I have achieved that.”
However, right before a crucial Lok Sabha election, there is an ironic twist in the story of Kejriwal’s political journey. The 55-year-old leader faces his toughest test so far. If he entered politics riding the wave of the anti-corruption movement, he faces the biggest crisis of his political career so far now and ironically, it has to do with corruption. He has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged corruption in his government’s formulation of the excise policy for Delhi. The ED described him as the mastermind of the purported wrongdoing.
Sandeep Pathak, AAP’s national general secretary (organisation), said that the BJP, by arresting Kejriwal, has now created a situation where the people will react emotionally. “You do fight elections on the issue of good governance,” he said. “But the people of the country are very emotional. Whenever you do something that touches their emotions, they immediately take a decision based on emotions.”
However, Kejriwal’s rivals will now seek to play up his alleged involvement in the corruption case electorally. Several of his party colleagues, including senior leaders like Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyender Jain, are already behind bars for alleged corruption, and this could pose a problem for Kejriwal and his party as they seek to fight off the perception of the AAP leadership being corrupt.
Also, Kejriwal is the face of the party, its biggest vote catcher, its command centre, and hence if he is behind bars, it would pose a monumental challenge for the party in terms of mobilising the organisation for the coming elections and also ensuring that the focus does not veer away from the governance of Delhi.
According to AAP’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai, Kejriwal’s arrest has resulted in the organisation rallying behind the leader. “It is time for all party workers and the people of Delhi and other states to stand up against the dictatorial Modi government as innumerable Kejriwals,” he said. “The BJP will regret touching Kejriwal.”
Kejriwal and the AAP have always gone to the people in times of crisis, conducting opinion surveys to decide their next move. This time, too, the people will decide the future of the activist-turned-leader and his party.