AAP supporters holding posters of Arvind Kejriwal after party’s victory in Delhi Assembly polls on 10 Feb 2015.
New Delhi: AAP ideologue Yogendra Yadav said the party’s landslide win has shattered the “myth of invincibility” around Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opened up “political possibilities”.
Speaking to NDTV news channel after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 67 of the 70 seats, Yadav said Modi had turned the Delhi assembly election into a “referendum (on his government) and said the whole world is watching”.
“He launched a personal attack on Arvind Kejriwal and now he cannot simply walk away and say it is a minor election,” he said.
“Can’t say if his (Modi’s) popularity has waned, but the myth of invincibility has suddenly been shattered. The idea of a juggernaut that would roll on and on and on has been halted, temporarily, and opened up political possibilities,” he said.
By political possibilities, Yadav said, “the complete sense of invincibility (around Modi) has been removed. Now I suspect that BJP leaders would be able to say a few things to the BJP, and the kind of pressure on the media would be relaxed a bit”.
“I always believe that the way to take on Modi is not to take on the old tried and tested political formula,” he added.
Asked about the AAP government having virtually no opposition in the assembly, he acknowledged that there was the “danger of hubris” (excessive pride or self-confidence).
He said the massive mandate has placed a “serious responsibility on the party. The people of Delhi have thrust a double responsibility on us. It is more than what we had dreamt. The people will expect more of us – to deliver on promises”.
Stating that the huge mandate was “scary”, he said it would give the AAP government the “responsibility of listening to voices of dissent, especially of the 32 percent who voted for the BJP and the others, and the responsibility of proving to be the carrier of an alternative politics”.
(IANS)
