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Journalism of Courage
Campaigning and governing are different,and AAPs challenge will be to negotiate that line.
The Aam Aadmi Party survived its test of confidence in the Delhi assembly,as it was expected to. But it is a ruling party in a uniquely challenging situation. It depends on the support of legislators of a sworn adversary,the Congress,while the opposition,the BJP,is the single largest party. It had campaigned on the promise that it would investigate allegations of corruption in the previous government,a claim the BJP threw back at it during the trust vote discussion. The floor test on Thursday was a preview of the inherent tensions in the arrangement,of three mutually hostile forces trying to show each other up. The AAP will be called upon to govern while constantly establishing its distance not just from its opposition,but also its ally.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said he is working on the assumption that he has limited time,and his government has already delivered on two dramatic campaign promises announcing free water of up to 667 litres a month and halving electricity bills for everyone. Both moves are questionable. The new water policy does not address the real problem of inequitable distribution or rampant leakage and effectively encourages the middle classes to take water for granted,while not serving the poor who lack metered connections or addressing necessary reform in the water utility. The electricity bill-slashing has been effected even before the promised audit to prove the AAPs campaign allegation that the previous government and private distribution companies conspired to inflate bills. The AAP has inherited a relatively robust fiscal situation. Now,if it intends to go on a subsidy spree,it must clarify where it is cutting back. Not doing so would be betraying its pledge to be genuinely transparent and accountable to citizens.
