However, the major story of this month that Kejriwal, who has now fully developed into a genuine politician overcoming his past activist image, upsetting political calculations of juggernaut BJP hasn't actually changed, more or less, the gloomy picture of the opposition in the country. Apart from a functioning ruling party, democracy also needs a proper functioning opposition. But the country has been witnessing a vacuum of a nationwide opposition party for the last six years and particularly after last year's Lok Sabha polls, where the BJP under the charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi washed all the hopes of the Congress and other opposition parties. And no one can doubt the ruling party's functionality. Since its return to power, the BJP has been rigorously implementing those issues which party has advocated from its birth — removal of special status of Jammu and Kashmir by modifying the Article 370 — or which the party promised before the polls — bringing a law on Instant Triple Talaq or the Citizenship Amendment Act, which has been the daily diet of Indian politics for more than two months.

Obviously, opposition has been able to snatch Jharkhand and Maharashtra from BJP and retain Delhi. In Jharkhand it was regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and in Maharashtra, it was NCP supremo Sharad Pawar's shrewd politics that disturbed the saffron party’s calculations. If one looks at this scenario, one would find there has been almost no role played by the Congress party, the other major national party. Although, there are the Left parties too. The Election Commission recognises NCP too as a national party, but it is hardly a national party. It even lost the average clout that it enjoyed earlier in the north-east and presently is mostly limited to Maharashtra only.

Congress continues to be in disarray and it rather worsened more after the party for the second consecutive time failed to win a single seat in Delhi, which once was known as the citadel of Congress under the able leadership of Sheila Dikshit. Delhi loss has instead resulted in many party leaders attacking each other from the public platforms. And the Left parties, CPM and CPI, the two national parties as recognised by EC, continue to be lost in their own world of illusion, despite getting a spree of political setbacks, which started with the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

At a time when the country looks for a national opposition, AAP's charismatic second victory has managed to bring some relief to the opposition space. In fact, there is a golden opportunity for the AAP to capture the opposition space mostly left by the Congress. AAP too knows it. That's why the party has declared its plan to go national. Already, the party has declared its intention of contesting the cash enrich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls to be held in 2022 and the panchayat elections of politically more significant Uttar Pradesh next year.

Sceptics have argued that AAP shouldn't be too excited about its national plans. Obviously, they are not wrong too. Immediately, after its first maiden stunning performance and tasting power in Delhi with the help of Congress, AAP contested more than 400 Lok Sabha polls in 2014 but was able to win only 4 — all from Punjab only. Party supremo Kejriwal himself lost badly to Modi in Varanasi. Again, after tasting its first resounding victory in 2015, the party revived its idea of going national. But the total dismal performance in Goa and the not so satisfying result in Punjab, where the party expected a victory but ended as the main opposition party, it was forced to halt its wonderful dreams of going national.

This data doesn't mean that AAP shouldn't go national. Obviously, it should. But, for that, it needs some reforms within the party structure. If AAP thinks that it would get votes in other states based only on the Delhi model, then it is politically wrong. Party shouldn't forget that its victory is almost similar to that of Modi's 2019 victory — mixed with successful welfare measures plus a strong face with shades of strong Hindutva and nationalism. The only difference was that AAP's Hindutva wasn't aggressive. It is an open secret that Kejriwal copied from the playbook of Modi, which neither AAP nor Kejriwal can deny. That's why, the slogan that AAP has started a new era of politics based on basic issues like water, electricity and education is something not new. BJP already did that in the 2019 general polls.


More than this, AAP has the tough challenge to build the organisation from grassroot levels because the euphoria created by Delhi results isn't going to live forever. And to build an organisation, the party will need a Kejriwal in each of those states. Only in Punjab, the party has a credible face, Bhagwant Mann, also party's only MP in the Lok Sabha. Although, Kejriwal had formed the party back in 2012 with a lot of promises, the bitter truth is that AAP's party structure is almost similar to Congress and the other regional parties where either the supremo or the family has the last say. He has been quite allergic to dissent and is accused of running the party without any internal democracy. Kejriwal had thrown Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav out of the party. Not only this, sane voices like Mayank Gandhi or Kumar Vishwas too have cut-off the links from the party. Reason is the same: lack of internal democracy. So, if AAP is looking for success outside Delhi, it has to walk an extra mile and strengthen its internal democracy and let state leaders grow. However, the question remains is will Kejriwal allow internal democracy and restrain his absolute tight grip over the functioning of the party. (IPA Service)