On her chin

Khera was reacting to AAPs autorickshaw campaign,which had gained strength after the Delhi government banned the display of posters on these vehicles. The posters blame the government for corruption and the rise in power tariffs; some of the attacks on the chief minister are arguably crude and personal. Yet,as Kheras letter mentions,Dikshit belongs to an established national party and has been elected three times as chief minister. Her reputation as a politician and administrator can probably survive a few hits from a new rival. For Kejriwal,just entering the fray and taking on the doyenne of Delhi politics,it is essential to up the ante ahead of the assembly polls this year. With its bevy of manifestos and its crowdsourced agenda,the AAP is yet to find a coherent political voice.

But the current fracas,Kheras cringemaking admonitions aside,also frames the protean nature of Indias politics. The entry barriers are high and established players occupy most of the political space. Yet it still has place for new and impudent challengers who can potentially unsettle the equations and inject frissons of uncertainty into the polity.