Kejriwal has promises to keep and miles to go

The mandate for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to rule Delhi was overwhelming. So much so that the man in the eye of the widespread jubilation, Arvind Kejriwal, himself termed it “scary”.
It is scary for anyone entering the cauldron of governance especially when he has made populist promises to its 16.8 million voters known for their impatience, which has been further complicated by the precarious division of power between the state and the central government.
For the city-centric government like Delhi, AAP has pledged to improve the life of one and all. While it has vowed graft free governance, a tall task for a city known for its wheelers and dealers, it has promised to build latrines, provide world-class health care for all, lower power tariffs and free water to thousands of urban poor and schools for all.
While these are basic governance tenets, delivering them within five years by a state government that does not have control over basic governmental issues like law and order is a monumental challenge.
There have been countrywide debates over the ideology precincts of the party. Many have termed AAP’s rise as the ascent of the neo Left.
Left thinkers though remain non-conformist vis-a-vis the party’s stand over capitalism. AAP leaders have consistently resisted all moves to brand the party through the prism of ‘isms’ that have governed the ideological stripes of political outfits for centuries.
However, this non-conformist stand has confused the hoi polloi further, giving rise to questions over their conviction to their welfarist manifesto as the opposition is bound to pounce upon at the slightest fettering of the said agenda.
If there is any label that describes the party correctly, it is populism, where it even shares a resemblance with the Congress party, which has time and again won the popular vote on the basis of freebies and doles.
However, such offerings have limited shelf life as Congress has realised in 2014 and hope AAP takes lessons from the same. When people’s legitimate demands are repeatedly sidestepped by the government machinery in return for trivial munificence, it takes the shape of ‘denial by state’ and will certainly find political articulation in a vibrant democracy like India, enabling an individual or a group to rise like a phoenix and mobilise people in their quest for change.
AAP has undergone that process of creation whereby not only people have forgiven them for their initial hara-kiri of resigning and trying to rise on the national scene even before being baptised in the fire of governance.
The party has promised to deliver in six basic areas. However, a peep into those should give Kejriwal sleepless nights. The most populist being the reduction of power tariff in a city that pays 60 per cent higher charges than the national average.
This is no innovation. Schemes like free electricity, waiving off farmers’ loans, rice at Rs2 (11 fils) per kilo have been very old political gimmicks in India.
Each time political parties promise such freebies, the common man has voted the party to power. But later, expectations start to disintegrate. On the contrary, such schemes have failed to reelect political parties.
AAP believes that an audit of the power companies will bring down the tariff as the rates were being artificially hiked in collusion with corrupt politicians.
However, power companies are claiming a perpetual loss in spite of higher tariffs. If the audit proves so, then what options does Kejriwal have? As an opposition leader Kejriwal had asked people not to pay electricity bills — a stance an elected chief minister can ill afford.
Delhi buys seven-eighth of its electricity from other states, of which, more than 48 per cent is used for domestic consumption. Increasing domestic production is a tall task and given the city’s ever-deteriorating pollution levels, it is not advisable either.
Considering Delhi’s landlocked geographical space, the city suffers from a perpetual water crisis, which often turns into widespread scarcity.
Though a higher percentage of the city’s population has access to tap water, it often runs dry during the acute north Indian summer. His solution of limiting the consumption of every household can fetch initial success, but considering the ever-increasing population of the city, it is bound to fail.
So the only option that remains is to offer subsidies to fulfil Kejriwal’s electoral promises, since money is a serious constraint.
Unlike the popular perception, Delhi is a poor city of the nouveau rich. Delhi does not have sound financials. Since it is not a full state, it cannot raise money from the markets. With a budget of Rs367 billion (Dh21.71 billion), the government will find it difficult to make ends meet.
Land will be another key issue in trying to fulfil Kejriwal’s promise of health care and schools. Delhi’s peculiar administrative and multi-tiered and detached governance system can stifle the chief minister’s good intentions.
If the land belongs to the state government, only then can it be used for such purposes. Otherwise, if demarcated in the city’s master plan, land has to be used for forest cover or open spaces, the government can do little.
However, the biggest silver lining for AAP is the fact that if it does the work of coordination well it can get others to fulfil its promises.
If it delivers on its promises on corruption and basic governance and present Delhi as a role model, then its long-term impact will be huge. It will not only help the party’s image in other states, but also force other political parties to deliver.
AAP’s biggest challenge is to project its government as a successful coordinator of various agencies and build an image of a consensus-builder, including with the central government, to get its act together for Delhi.