New Delhi: The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has made a slew of populist promises over the past few weeks: Free travel for women on public transport, including on Delhi Metro, zero registration fee for Class X and Class XII CBSE students taking the board exam, free IIT and NEET coaching, and piped clean water supply to every household by 2024.
While freebies and populism have been the AAP’s preferred poll recipe since its formation, the timing of these fresh promises have led the opposition to dismiss them as mere pre-poll offerings by a party facing irrelevance after a dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
Of the 40 seats it contested in the recently-concluded polls, the AAP won just one — Sangrur in Punjab — and lost deposit in three of Delhi’s seven constituencies. This is a far cry from the stellar performance it pulled off in 2015, winning 67 of Delhi’s 70 assembly seats despite Kejriwal’s shock resignation that forced the capital into a second election within months.
“Given how they didn’t get a single seat in the Lok Sabha elections [in Delhi], they are trying to overcompensate or cope with this, but these tactics can’t work,” said BJP MLA Vijender Gupta, the leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly, saying the AAP’s promises were “rubbish”.
Delhi Congress spokesperson Jitender Kochar, meanwhile, said that, with elections around the corner, “for the next few months, all we’ll hear is Kejriwal make announcements”.
“This morning, I was at a park and the buzz was that we won’t be surprised if he announces next that he will send people of Delhi to the moon or space for free,” he added.
A letter Metro man E. Sreedharan wrote to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia became public Friday, in which he urged the Kejriwal government not to destroy the Delhi Metro for electoral gains, calling the free public transport for women scheme an election gimmick.
“Everyone knows this is an election gimmick to win the votes of women in the next assembly election,” his letter, dated 20 June, read.
Approached by ThePrint for comment, Sisodia justified the government’s education policy.
“Education worldwide is the duty of the government,” he said. “All progressive countries have done their bit on education. It’s unfortunate that in our country, education has become a victim of teaching shops and commercial mindset.”
However, Sisodia didn’t offer any comment on the timing of these announcements. Other party members ThePrint spoke too said the timing was insignificant since these “have been ongoing schemes and projects”.
Also read: ‘Metro Man’ Sreedharan calls Kejriwal govt’s free metro ride move an election gimmick
SC disapproves of freebies
In 2015, the AAP’s announcements of free water and cheaper electricity are said to have played a big role in bringing it to office.
In January 2017, contesting its maiden assembly election in Punjab, the AAP promised homes for Muslims and Christians, while pledging to appoint a Dalit deputy CM if the party won.
The same month, the Supreme Court ruled that the election of a candidate should be declared null and void if votes are sought in the name of “religion, race, caste, community or language”.
The apex court has also expressed its disapproval of freebies: In July 2015, while hearing a petition filed by Delhi-based advocate S. Subramaniam Balaji against the distribution of freebies in Tamil Nadu by governments led by both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the court directed the Election Commission to formulate guidelines to regulate such practices.
Also read: Why Arvind Kejriwal is unlikely to keep his free metro travel promise to women