Tidings from Arvind Kejriwal’s comeback

As the extended celebrations by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Delhi, on completing one year in office, brings to an end its honeymoon phase, the focus of the government is on ensuring that the “triple engines” that run Delhi, work in tandem to deliver on the vision laid out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making Delhi a “world class” city.

With the arduous task of addressing legacy problems such as cleaning the Yamuna and fixing Delhi’s air pollution on the cards, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will have to reveal a clear blueprint of what her government plans to build, moving away from blaming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for “neglecting” Delhi’s development and finances for over a decade.

The return of Kejriwal

Coinciding with the end of the first year of the BJP government is also the return of former Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal to Delhi’s political field, ending a self-imposed exile. After a Delhi Court discharged Mr. Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others from a politically-charged liquor policy case, the former CM explained that he had decided to remain silent until he is proven innocent before the country, and when his kattar imandar (staunchly honest) credentials were back. With Mr. Kejriwal staying silent, senior AAP leaders busy in Punjab where it is in power, and the Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Atishi in-charge of the AAP’s Goa unit, the role of the Opposition was being played by the AAP’s Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj.

Some leaders in the AAP say that the vacuum created by Mr. Kejriwal’s decision to step out of the limelight was deliberate so that the BJP could have a chance at governing Delhi. It would then turn up the heat once the party starts failing to deliver its promises.

Mr. Kejriwal’s return acquires significance as his political persona has been built on opposition — opposition to entrenched power, to central authority, and to what he calls bureaucratic overreach. Even when in power, frequent run-ins with the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) and the Union government had him fighting against the tide. How Mr. Kejriwal leads his party on its home turf as the Opposition is sure to keep the BJP guessing his next move. 

However, the political impact of the allegations against Mr. Kejriwal will not be easy to erase. Crores of public money spent on renovating the official residence allotted to him, that the BJP has mockingly called the ‘Sheesh Mahal’, has tarnished the original image that he created of being a politician that will shun VIP treatment when he comes to power. Mr. Kejriwal will have to curate a comeback from controversy if he wants to carry on with his original mission.

Adding to this mix is the entry of former bureaucrat-diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu as Delhi’s new L-G. He is seen as someone the Centre has brought in to help the first time Chief Minister in a city that has a large diplomatic community. Mr. Sandhu who served as the Indian Ambassador to the U.S between 2020-2024, joined the BJP on March 19, 2024 and contested unsuccessfully from the Amritsar constituency in Punjab in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 

His predecessor V.K Saxena’s tenure was marked by frequent run-ins with Mr. Kejriwal who accused him of stalling development in the capital. A less confrontational relationship between the Chief Minister and the L-G will see files move faster in the national capital territory. 

The road ahead

The Delhi government in its first year has mostly relied on implementing central government schemes like the Ayushman Bharat, or modifying welfare schemes to introduce Arogya Mandirs as an alternative to the AAP’s Mohalla Clinic scheme, or replacing the AAP’s schools of specialised education with the CM Shri Schools.

There has been careful compliance, with the Centre and the Chief Minister not going off-script.

The BJP, for its part, is unlikely to cede ground easily to the AAP but it will have to prove that Delhi benefits from aligning with the Centre, particularly in areas requiring large-scale coordination and resources. Will Delhi’s “triple engine” government generate enough power to change the face of the capital? Or will it idle away the next four years allowing the AAP to reclaim its space?