The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) resounding victory in the Delhi Assembly elections has once again reinforced a crucial lesson in politics—taking the electorate for granted can prove fatal. It has also reminded political parties that it is puerile to expect that mud-slinging and playing the victim card alone will attract votes.

The political message from the BJP’s win is clear: election campaigns should focus on socio-economic and infrastructural issues rather than being personality-driven spectacles. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to centre the election around himself backfired spectacularly. As a result, the party he founded with much fanfare 13 years ago—from the remnants of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement—has suffered an avoidable and humiliating setback.

AAP’s two most senior leaders, Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, literally ended up biting the dust, losing by substantial margins to their BJP opponents. In hindsight, Kejriwal may now realise that his combative stance against the Centre was a grave miscalculation. Had he maintained cordial relations, AAP could have secured much-needed support to fulfil several of its long-pending........

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