The Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, is a political party founded by Arvind Kejriwal in 2012. It was born out of a civil society movement — Indian Against Corruption — that received massive popular support in 2011-12 after public anger over corruption charges on the then Congress-led UPA government.
It won its first elections in Delhi in 2013, and came to power with outside support from the Congress. But the government lasted only 49 days as Kejriwal resigned since he was unable to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly. The AAP returned to power in 2015, when fresh elections were held, and swept the Delhi elections winning 67 of 70 seats. The first few issues tackled by AAP were the fraudulent inflation of water and electricity bills, promising the people of Delhi certain free units of electricity.
The AAP government in Delhi has been in a tussle with the BJP-ruled central government and the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over the division of powers. Kejriwal and several AAP leaders and ministers face corruption charges related to alleged irregularities in the 2021-22 Delhi excise policy case. The case has already landed former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and AAP campaign manager Vijay Nair in jail.
Owaisi’s misplaced ambitions have led to this. Many Muslims have voted for AIMIM – this division of votes has hurt the AAP. AAP tally could have been better, albeit marginally, if the AIMIM had campaigned for AAP rather than against it.
The INDI Alliance has veen reduced to a circus now – everyone is contesting against everyone else.