Why Kejriwal believes Delhi's bijli aur paani woes will win him the polls

No conversation about Delhi assembly polls is complete without a mention of 1998 when the BJP lost to Congress, which to this day is blamed on its inability to curb high onion prices at the time. Two elections later, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) believes it knows its onions and intends to make the high electricity and water tariffs the poll plank on which they will take on the Sheila Dikshit government in the national capital. On 25 February, when Kejriwal announced his intention to start an indefinite hunger strike starting on 23 March, he made no attempt to conceal the fact that the objective of his fast would be to mobilise Delhiites in support of his party over this issue. “It will be an upvaas to enlighten people of Delhi about steep rise in water and power bills,” said Kejriwal at the press conference in New Delhi. But is the rise in water and power tariffs an emotive enough issue for the assembly elections in Delhi, where caste and class dynamics are often said to dictate voting patterns? Since the creation of his political party in October 2012, Kejriwal and the party’s core group has been actively discussing the price hike of these two utilities and has alleged corruption, and collusion between Delhi government and private electricity companies to manipulate prices. Aam Aadmi Party members burnt electricity bills in protest at Jantar Mantar, Kejriwal restored power connection in some households who had their power connections terminated and public meetings have seen him explaining the mathematics of the prices. His upcoming ‘civil disobedience movement’ is the next phase of AAP’s poll campaign, during which the activist-turned-politician will stay in various assembly constituencies during his fast to register his party’s presence in voters’ minds. [caption id=“attachment_651443” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Are the high bills a good enough reason to vote for Kejriwal? Firstpost/ Naresh Sharma[/caption]AAP activists said that the party finalised these two issues, based on which they would contest the polls, after many brainstorming sessions. Why electricity and water prices? Because the party wanted to choose issues which cut across class and caste divides in the national capital. “The increase in electricity bills appeals to different classes for different reasons,” said Yogendra Yadav, AAP member and former psephologist, explaining the party’s rationale. “Upper classes can pay the revised bills but it knows the hike is the result of corruption. The middle class will not go bankrupt paying the increased prices but will feel the pinch, and for the lower middle class it is simply unaffordable,” he said. When asked about making water prices as issue, Yadav reasoned, “It is not an issue for the upper class. For the lower class, it is an issue of unavailability of water.” But in a nation that is used to promises of bijli, sadak and paani from its political leaders, has it ever been an emotive issue in Delhi? The BJP might disagree. In 2003, the BJP riding high on Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s popularity, promised uninterrupted water and power supply but failed to wrest Delhi from Sheila Dikshit, who was brought back to power. In 2008 the terror strikes in Mumbai took place days before Delhi went to vote. Top rung BJP leaders intensified their campaign and targeted the Congress’ failure in maintaining internal security. They hoped the attacks in Mumbai would affect voting pattern in Delhi more than in Rajasthan, which was to go to polls three months later. “However, as electoral results trickled in, BJP President Rajnath Singh virtually admitted the failure of terrorism as a poll plank when he said that local issues played a crucial role in the elections. For Congress, development plank worked in Delhi, where it retained power for third time,” noted The Indian Express. So why could the twin issues work this time for the AAP? Electricity is available to more than 92 per cent households, according to the economic survey of Delhi for 2008- 2009, and almost a third of the population has piped water supply. Due to the high penetration of utilities, even a moderate hike in their prices effect people across classes in Delhi, said political analyst Jai Mrug. “These issues are more relevant now than before. These amenities have been made available to a significant chunk of population in the last five to ten years. And consumers have been forced to become transparent in terms of billing,” he said. Another change is in the spike in the number of middle class families in Delhi, which the AAP is trying to woo. In 2007- 2008, per capita income in Delhi was more than twice the all -India per capita GDP, and roughly equivalent to that of China, as per National Council of Applied Economic Research’s (NCAER). Delhi is one of the 20 cities in the nation where over than half the households lie in the middle class by 2016. “Income levels in Delhi are increasing each passing year. And with this, the number of people who can pay for basic amenities is going up. Therefore, it is only wise to project the hike in water and power tariff as election issue,” Amita Baviskar, assistant professor at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University, said. But picking a poll plank is only half the job done, said Mrug. The hard part lies ahead. “Whether it will work for AAP’s benefit or not depends on its mobilising skills,” he said.