Having won the vote of confidence in the Delhi Assembly on Thursday, the next challenge for the Aam Aadmi Party is quite clear -- scaling up their success to replicate it nationally in the 2014 Parliamentary elections. Propelled by their recent success at the Delhi Assembly elections, the party that is slowly changing the politics of India will now contest in the Lok Sabha elections as well.
For a party formed only about a year ago, it will be a herculean task to actually win enough seats to make an impact in the Lok Sabha. While some suggest they may get votes because of the changing mindsets of voters, others think that it will be next to impossible.
Arvind Kejriwal. AFP
Either way, the AAP is determined it won't stop with just Delhi.
Professor Anand Kumar, a member of the AAP, during a debate on CNN-IBN conceded that it is likely that the AAP may not replicate its Delhi success in the coming elections, but said that for AAP it was not just about winning.
"AAP in the coming LS elections is going to have a very low chance of sweeping the polls. It will only create an alternative for people to enter politics. Most of them are joining us to contribute something rather than gaining something," he said and added that the party already had a network of people working for them across the country and approaching more people for support.
Is the Is the BJP worried about anti-Congress votes being split?
Sambit Patra, spokesperson for the BJP, was of the opinion that there was a conspiracy involved and that the bubble would soon burst.
"I am sensing a sense of hurry. You cannot be a CM today and PM tomorrow. You have to perform and be grilled by people before you become people. The kind of hurry AAP is showing makes me think there is some conspiracy. Today the crusaders against corruption got married to the most corrupt party to stall the rath of truth. The bubble will burst," Patra said in a veiled attack on the both the Congress and the AAP.
Meanwhile Congress's Randeep Singh Surjewala remained somewhat restrained.
"Congress will continue to resonate the issues of the common man. But I don't I have any grudge against some other party that wants to do the same," Surjewala said and added, "The political space that Modi was occupying, the media has suddenly evaporated from there," taking a dig at the BJP.
It is not the first time that there has been a new option in politics like AAP, VP Singh too tried to bring in change into the scene of Indian democracy, but could not sustain its movement. Will the same happen to AAP?
Senior Journalist Dilip Padgaonkar doesn't believe so. "The situation is different from the time of VP Singh. In 1989 it was also the BJP and the mandir issue. Identity politics is losing its sheen. The AAP now doesn't have to rely on any vote banks of caste and community. Today regional parties have come to dominate the political scene, the national parties have to regionalise," he said and added, "Unlike in past, much of urban India has become much more cosmopolitan. The people who are attracted to AAP don't want anything to do with identity politics or family led politics."
Meera Sanyal of the AAP also was the opinion that people of the country want to see some change. "I have traveled extensively across the country to many villages. The feeling is that corruption has been too much. There is a strong move towards anti-political establishments. The BJP, Congress are always involved in tu tu main main. People want politicians to talk about real issues like employment, environment and education," she said.
However, Patra was not convinced and thought that AAP must spend some more time in politics before jumping into something it is not experienced in.
"Cinematics is good, but then there has to be governance thereafter. Why in a hurry to stall someone's rath? AAP should walk the talk in Delhi first," Patra said.
Delhi may have been easy, but regional leaders in politics like Mayawati, Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee await the AAP in the Lok Sabha polls. Does the AAP have enough footing to take them on?
"They have been all been taken on. There are thousands of Arvind Kejriwals, and they are yet to be recognised by the media. Most of the people of AAP are people of substance and their potential is yet to be seen. We will combine them and they have an agenda," Professor Kumar said.
"We are aware that symbolism and tokenism wont impress voters. If the Congress and the BJP are aiming for 272 plus then AAP has to do the same," Kumar said.
Meanwhile, Padgaonkar outlined the advantages that the AAP has. "The greatest advantage of the AAP is that it carries no baggage of the past. The AAP at this moment squeaky clean, that is their huge advantage. Moreover, spreading yourself too thin is all about arithmetic, but one has to look at the chemistry of politics," he said.
"The AAP has to bring about corrective measures. Freebies won't work if they have to go national. We have to know what their stand is on serious issues like communalism. It seems to me that the BJP and the Congress are on the back foot. Soon some regional parties will also be on the backfoot and you will see a catalyst in Indian politics that has not ever been seen," said Padgaonkar.
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