A column published after the 2017 Delhi municipal elections argued that the Aam Aadmi Party’s defeat raised serious doubts about the alternative style of politics that Arvind Kejriwal had promised.

The EVM complaint

The writer noted that, almost as soon as early leads came in, AAP leaders began saying the result reflected an “EVM wave” rather than a BJP wave, once again blaming electronic voting machines for a loss. The column asked why the party’s senior figures did not take up the Election Commission’s offer to test the machines if they wanted to prove their claims.

A promise under strain

According to the column, the results showed that Kejriwal’s brand of politics, which had won him a huge mandate, was coming apart. It said the defeat had also undercut his plans to build AAP into a national alternative to the ruling party.

The writer looked back at the period when Kejriwal and his associates were leading a campaign against corruption. At that stage, the column said, they did not seem headed for electoral politics, and that was why many intellectuals who had lost faith in political leaders chose to join them.

What happened next

In the 2020 Delhi assembly election, the Aam Aadmi Party won 62 seats and the BJP 8, with Arvind Kejriwal remaining Chief Minister.

See also: election news

Originally published on 1 May 2017. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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