 "How BJP and Congress made 'odd-even' a success in Delhi")
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and to a lesser extent the Congress, is gobsmacked. A scheme as unpopular as the ‘odd-even’ rule targeting Delhi's car-owning classes has succeeded, primarily because neither party’s state unit could mount a convincing critique of the scheme.
The failure of the BJP is starker because it still commands a significant support base in Delhi, particularly among the middle class that bore the brunt of the odd-even scheme. The BJP, as party insiders point out, might have been reduced to three MLAs in the 70-member Delhi assembly but had won a sizeable 32.3% vote share in the February 2015 state polls.
Some in the BJP had even suggested that enough car owners on Delhi's roads should flout the scheme. "A critical mass of people, with no party affiliations, defying (the) odd-even (rule) would have ensured its failure but the party didn't build an alternative discourse about how whimsical the scheme was, that it hasn't succeeded anywhere in the world and there were more effective alternatives available to check pollution," a BJP leader said, on condition of anonymity. This lack of a counter-narrative, a section of the party believes, helped Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal dominate the discourse.
But it is exactly this 'style of functioning' that enabled Kejriwal to outflank his rivals. Kejriwal's ad campaign and his seemingly consultative approach, where he implored all of Delhi to become a stakeholder in the experiment, helped in muting the widespread anger among car owners. The BJP and Congress leaders also became apprehensive about coming across as politically incorrect on the issue of pollution, and quite forgot to critique the scheme. The episode also exposed how neither the Congress nor BJP has been able to find a credible leader in Delhi who can challenge Kejriwal as a communicator.
The story of ‘odd-even’s success tells us that Kejriwal is Delhi's unrivalled leader. He has consolidated his support base in the past one year, particularly among Dalits, Sikhs and Muslims, who together make up nearly 40% of the state's population. There is much admiration for the man among the city's dispossessed, while the Congress and BJP are yet to find a way to tap into whatever disillusionment the city's middle classes may have started feeling about the AAP government.
Now, the party’s victory in the Delhi civic polls in 2017 looks like a foregone conclusion. What Kejriwal has done with the success of the 'odd/even' scheme is to help increase his national stature as a politician brave enough to take 'out of the box' decisions, a politician not given to any particular ideology and somebody who is a 'problem solver'.
The failure of the BJP is starker because it still commands a significant support base in Delhi, particularly among the middle class that bore the brunt of the odd-even scheme. The BJP, as party insiders point out, might have been reduced to three MLAs in the 70-member Delhi assembly but had won a sizeable 32.3% vote share in the February 2015 state polls.
Some in the BJP had even suggested that enough car owners on Delhi's roads should flout the scheme. "A critical mass of people, with no party affiliations, defying (the) odd-even (rule) would have ensured its failure but the party didn't build an alternative discourse about how whimsical the scheme was, that it hasn't succeeded anywhere in the world and there were more effective alternatives available to check pollution," a BJP leader said, on condition of anonymity. This lack of a counter-narrative, a section of the party believes, helped Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal dominate the discourse.
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The BJP strategy, it would seem, was 'not to disturb your enemy when he is busy making a mistake'. But there is now a growing realisation, albeit in hindsight, that the party let slip a golden opportunity to put Kejriwal on the mat. The party believes it should have mounted a campaign that Kejriwal was targeting the BJP support base, that is, car owners, while sparing the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) support base of two-wheeler owners despite the fact that bulk of the air pollution in Delhi is caused by two-stroke engines. But instead of either engaging in street action or putting forth a convincing critique, the BJP and Congress state spokespersons focussed on criticising the Delhi CM’s style of functioning.
But it is exactly this 'style of functioning' that enabled Kejriwal to outflank his rivals. Kejriwal's ad campaign and his seemingly consultative approach, where he implored all of Delhi to become a stakeholder in the experiment, helped in muting the widespread anger among car owners. The BJP and Congress leaders also became apprehensive about coming across as politically incorrect on the issue of pollution, and quite forgot to critique the scheme. The episode also exposed how neither the Congress nor BJP has been able to find a credible leader in Delhi who can challenge Kejriwal as a communicator.
The story of ‘odd-even’s success tells us that Kejriwal is Delhi's unrivalled leader. He has consolidated his support base in the past one year, particularly among Dalits, Sikhs and Muslims, who together make up nearly 40% of the state's population. There is much admiration for the man among the city's dispossessed, while the Congress and BJP are yet to find a way to tap into whatever disillusionment the city's middle classes may have started feeling about the AAP government.
Now, the party’s victory in the Delhi civic polls in 2017 looks like a foregone conclusion. What Kejriwal has done with the success of the 'odd/even' scheme is to help increase his national stature as a politician brave enough to take 'out of the box' decisions, a politician not given to any particular ideology and somebody who is a 'problem solver'.