For AAP, changing perception was bigger challenge than BJP

After being tagged a 'fugitive' party, it was important for AAP to regain its faith among Delhi citizens

The results are out and the Aam Aadmi Party  (AAP)’s victory in the Delhi Assembly elections is being attributed to collective failure of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s national and state leadership.

This, however, might only be half the story. AAP leaders believe the  BJP had lost the plot much before the elections were announced. “It all began when we started holding the mohalla sabhas and went back to the people,” says Ashish Talwar, AAP’s Delhi unit incharge, who restructured the party and was the face behind AAP’s successful comeback. After being tagged a ‘fugitive’ party, it had become important for AAP to regain the lost faith among citizens. So, the prime battle was bringing about a change in perception of itself.

Immediately after the party’s Lok Sabha debacle, AAP’s top leadership instructed its 27 members of the Delhi Assembly to hold mohalla sabhas (neighbourhood committees) in their respective constituencies — the sole purpose was decentralisation of decision-making at the ground level. This was the first time after the Lok Sabha results that the party’s national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, made public appearances through radio advertisements, urging citizens to attend these sabhas and participate in allocation of Rs 4 crore of local funds in their areas.

AAP says each MLA on an average organised 30 mohalla sabhas, taking up local issues and reaching out to the people. “Amid the negativity that was surrounding us, this brought a sense of a turnaround,” Talwar says.