Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has good reason to feel good, having won five out of the 13 by-elections held for vacancies in the Capital’s MCDs. He would be particularly happy that his arch-enemy the BJP has scored even below the Congress, winning just three seats. Delhi’s chatterati, however, must be baffled that despite some of his whimsical actions, the Chief Minister continues to command a high degree of electoral support. Obversekly, the BJP would be pained to see that all their efforts to denigrate and discredit the Aam Aadmi Party and its supremo have not yielded the expected dividends.
The secret of Mr Kejriwal’s success lies primarily in his ability to stay connected with his core voter. The Delhi Government’s radical decision to slash electricity tariffs for households consuming less than 400 units, taken together with free supply of water up to 70 gallons per day to less privileged homes, has gone a long way to consolidate AAP’s support base. While there are many who feel that Mr Kejriwal ought to do greater justice to his stupendous mandate and focus on Delhi’s development rather than skirmishes with the lieutenant-Governor, the Chief Minister’s supporters seem happy with the Delhi Government’s populist functioning. Arguably, the recent sparring match between AAP and the Prime Minister over Mr Narendra Modi’s University degree was purely diversionary and, hence, uncalled for, this does not seem to have dented Mr Kejriwal’s hold on the city.
Now that the Government has acquired renewed legitimacy through the MCD by-election results, Mr Kejriwal may like to reconsider his combative style of governance. Being a Union Territory, the relationship between the Delhi Government and the Centre is one of mutual interdependence. It is in the best interests of Delhi’s 2-crore-plus citizens that the State and Union Governments function in harmony so that Delhi’s ambition to emerge as a world city materializes at the earliest.