Kejriwal and his party must perform or perish
Now that the Aam Aadmi Party has, after an excruciatingly long delay, decided to form a Government in Delhi, it will face the challenge of delivering on the many tall promises it has made to the people of the city-State. The fact that it is just over a year old and has zero experience in governance, will serve both as an alibi and a liability. In the months leading to the lok Sabha election the party will have a honeymoon period as it goes about understanding the intricacies of governance and its Ministers settle down in assignments which they have until now criticised from outside.
The people will not be too harsh on Mr Arvind Kejriwal and his Ministers during this period, as they will wait and watch, understanding that it takes time for a novice to come to grips with the administration. As long as the AAP takes initiatives to fulfil at least a few of its grand commitments, the public will be content in the initial months. However, once the honeymoon is over — there is no certainty that the happy phase will last until the general election; if the AAP blunders badly, the goodwill it has can evaporate earlier — the party will have to face the reality that performance and not rhetoric matters. Mr Kejriwal has said that his party had finalised its manifesto based on the feedback from the people and in consultation with ‘experts'.
One presumes, therefore, that the promises are implementable — and they should be implemented by the incoming Government in a time-bound manner. Mr Kejriwal will, however, realise that some of these assurances, like on the mandated supply of potable water and a reduction in power tariff, are more difficult to enforce. Of course, the mess that has been created on these fronts is entirely the doing of the Congress, but the AAP cannot forever keep blaming the outgoing regime. If it cannot deliver, it will be exposed for misleading the public with bogus promises.
It is not just the new experience of governance that will test Mr Kejriwal and his party. The AAP has to contend with the Congress on whose support it is poised to form the Government. That the relationship between the two parties is going to be far from smooth is reflected in the lack of trust they have in each other. The Congress says it has backed the AAP (but not unconditionally) because it does not want another election foisted on the people of Delhi, and the AAP has claimed it has accepted the Congress's support because the people have given the party the go-ahead. If these are the only reasons the two have, it can be surmised that they have entered into a pact with the complete desire to break apart sooner than later.
The people have unambiguously rejected the Congress and they will not take kindly if the party seeks to further its agenda by seeking to arm-twist the AAP. At the same time, they will also not want the AAP to cling on to power by pandering to the Congress's desires. In case of a political crisis, the voters may well refuse to bless the AAP, tainted as they will consider it for having formed a Government with the Congress's support. But these are possibilities in the near future. For now, Mr Kejriwal and his party have other more immediate matters to brood over.