Marking AAP's Toughest Anniversary Yet, Arvind Kejriwal Invokes Ramlila Maidan Days in Call to Youth

On the 12th anniversary of its foundation day and ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections next year, the AAP has coined its new slogan — Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Naujawan (Hail Soldiers, Hail Farmers, Hail the Youth).

The slogan is a take on the original ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ that was coined by then prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965 and has continued to resonate through the decades.

“AAP is the party of the youth. Youth is the future of the country. Youth will eventually hold the reins of the country. On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of our formation, AAP is today is declaring its slogan Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Naujawan,” tweeted the Aam Aadmi Party’s 55-year-old national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The 12th anniversary of the AAP was, however, shorn of any celebrations given the fact that four of its top leaders and, incidentally, key aides of Kejriwal are behind bars. The 11-year-old party is in the throes of an existential crisis with speculation of Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest.

Even though the Delhi CM has not been named in any of the chargesheets in the alleged Delhi liquor scam, the Enforcement Directorate had issued summons to him on October 31, which happened to be the same day when the Supreme Court denied bail to Manish Sisodia. Even as Kejriwal chose to skip the date with the ED on November 2, another minister, Raaj Kumar Anand, was raided by the anti-money laundering agency. The Delhi Chief Minister was summoned by the CBI and questioned for nearly nine hours on April 16.

The party’s senior leaders — Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Sanjay Singh — have been behind bars from periods ranging for over one-and-a-half years to over one month. AAP MP Sanjay Singh is the most recent to have been arrested, on October 14.

The party’s communication in-charge, Vijay Nair, who played a key role in the party’s 2020 election strategy in Delhi and 2022 strategies in Punjab and Goa, has also been behind bars for over a year. With its entire top brass, except for Kejriwal, behind bars and courts refusing bail to the jailed leaders, it has become a battle of nerves for the party. Eleven years since its inception, the AAP is at a crossroads.

In fact, most AAP leaders — Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Gopal Rai and other ministers in the Delhi cabinet like Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Kailash Gahlot — are between the ages of 36 and 56.

For a 11-year-old party, the leadership is young when compared to other political parties in the country. And, it is this young leadership that has propelled AAP from being a city-centric urban party to a national party that has a government in two states. And, many of its leaders, like Kejriwal himself, are first time political entrants.

As the country heads into the 2024 general elections, the AAP hopes to attract the growing segment of youth with its brand of “politics of work”, and invoking political icons like Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar. With its new slogan, the AAP is positioning the youth at the apex of its political messaging.

Addressing party workers and supporters, Kejriwal said that it is no less a miracle that AAP has become the country’s fastest growing party forming governments in two states and having legislators in two others. Kejriwal was referring to Delhi and Punjab, where the party has formed the government, and Gujarat and Goa where the party has five and two legislators, respectively.

The AAP was born out of the anti-corruption movement led by activist Anna Hazare in 2011 and with its anti-corruption credentials coming under a shadow, Kejriwal said: “I remember, in Ram Lila Maidan, people used to ask what is the guarantee that you will not be corrupt? I would like to tell each person connected with the party that in India’s history, no other political party has been targeted as AAP has been the past 11 years. They have filed more than 250 false cases through ED, CBI, I-T, Delhi Police and others. However, till date, they have not got any proof of corruption or recoveries. This is the biggest certificate of our honesty.”

Perhaps in a direct reference to the solemn mood within the AAP, Kejriwal said: “Today, my heart is a little heavy. Today is the first time that on an anniversary, Manish ji, Satyanedar ji, Sanjay Singh, Vijay Nair are not with us. They have been jailed in fabricated cases.”

But soon, Kejriwal adopted a more aggressive tone. “The BJP knows how to break leaders of other parties by filing false cases, but not that of AAP. This is a matter of pride for us that till date none of our MLAs could be bought over. Even their families supported them. They tried hard but could not break a single of our leaders.”

Kejriwal went on to claim that AAP’s leaders were approached by top politicians, lured with offers of mediation and compromise. However, no leader succumbed, he said.

He reiterated that they drew inspiration from Bhagat Singh, and would prefer death over any compromise. “To save the country, AAP workers are ready to sacrifice their lives, true to the oath taken at Ramlila Maidan 11 years ago.”

The AAP chief also made a mention of Baba Saheb Ambedkar underling that it cannot be a mere coincidence that the party was formed on November 26, the date India adopted its Constitution in 1949.

“After 75 years, for the first time, there is a party which focuses on the politics of work, which says that it will provide world class government schools and hospitals, give free water and electricity to the poor. This is our desh bhakti (patriotism). In a country where elections are fought on caste and religion, now there is talk of education, health. No matter how critical our opponents are, even they know that AAP has changed the politics of the country. We have to carry this forward no matter how difficult the road ahead is,” said Kejriwal before signing off with “hum ladenge, hum jeetenge” (we will fight, we will win).