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After a sweep in the Delhi Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party ideologue Yogendra Yadav discusses with Somesh Jha and Kavita Chowdhury the party's plans and how Prime Minister Narendra Modi should respect the mandate of the people. Edited excerpts:
How do you interpret this victory?
Although we had projected a landslide win, I had not expected such a big mandate. It is a wave and the mandate is the complete trust reposed in us by the people.
Is this a vote against the arrogance of BJP?
I do not see it as a negative vote but a positive one in favour of AAP.
Will AAP now extend its footprint nationally?
We have an Opposition vacuum in the country, especially the belt from Odisha to Gujarat. The Congress is in the Opposition in several states but does not act like one. In the medium term, our task will be to occupy the role of a principled Opposition party. We do not consider ourselves a regional party. We are offering a national platform for alternative politics and we deliberately chose Delhi as our first site.
Do you fear the BJP-led central government will not be supportive?
I think PM Narendra Modi has seen the writing on the wall. Like a good democrat, he will respect the wishes of one part of the country. Moreover, we have a federal polity. Centre and state governments deal with each other through constitutionally prescribed mechanisms, irrespective of which parties they happen to be controlled by. We hope and believe this practice will continue when the AAP forms the government in Delhi.
After all, Modi was Gujarat’s chief minister for a decade when the UPA was in power at the Centre. He claims he developed Gujarat enormously. So clearly you can work in a state even when the party in power at the Centre is different. I am sure he would wish to extend us the same courtesy as must have been extended to him by UPA.
How do you plan to take up the issue of full statehood for Delhi?
The BJP has not put this in its manifesto this time. But this is what it had said in each of its manifestos so far, including the one for the Lok Sabha elections. BJP’s seven MPs have promised full statehood to Delhi. We hope they remember this, because full statehood does not depend on the state but on the central government, which was formed on this promise in Delhi.
How has the AAP transformed in two years?
AAP of 2013 was enthusiasm and energy with very little structure. Today we are an energy-plus structure with organisational routines. Last time we were principally responding to the challenge of viability, this time we are responding to the challenge of governance.
Would these results mean the end of the Modi wave?
The fact is most PMs of the country have a honeymoon period of two years or so. Modi hasn't even finished one year and on balance, he is not unpopular. So, a defeat in Delhi does not indicate or may not lead to losing his popularity overnight. What it would do is to damage, perhaps irretrievably, the myth of his invincibility. Because the PM chose, somewhat unwisely, to throw his personal prestige into this election, it could begin the process of decline in his popularity among the people and within his own party.
