The Aam Aadmi Party is set to wield the broom in Goa once again with party national leader and ex-advisor to the Delhi government Atishi Marlena raising the pitch for a change. Undeterred by the drubbing the party suffered in 2017 assembly poll, the party’s decision to plunge into the forthcoming Lok Sabha contest is a positive sign and in all probability could be keeping an eye on an early, if not simultaneous assembly election in Goa. On this count, the LS poll could be a good dress rehearsal which can help the party to reassess itself.
AAP has sensed their moment of reckoning which comes against the backdrop of growing resentment over failure of administration, a fact admitted by some of the allies themselves. While Goa is stuck in a quagmire, AAP will sell its Delhi success stories to woo voters here. The party has tasted huge success on sectors like health, education and power in the capital. It takes credit for subsidizing electricity bills up to 50 per cent while also providing free quota of water to a thirsting Delhi populace. On the education front the party has opened a new chapter with nearly 10,000 new classrooms and managed to put curbs on private school fees. The Mohalla Clinic Scheme has hit even international headlines, drawing the attention of the likes of Kofi Annan and WHO officials.
However, the bigger challenge the party faces in Goa is primarily its dwindling image. After a disappointing debut in 2017, the euphoria within the AAP ranks appears to have considerably died down, and apart from the occasional effusions and the red flags that have been raised, the party hasn’t managed to take centrestage and make a serious impact on the administration as an opposition. Party president Elvis Gomes may be giving it his all, but that is still not good enough to usher in a change. The AAP may not find another Arvind Kejriwal in Goa, but it needs to reinvent itself with probably a battery of leaders at various levels. It needs to learn from its past mistakes, since politics is not only about grass-root workers.
While the Delhi success goes as a huge positive for the party, it must be borne in mind that Goa is a different turf altogether where issues are divided and sub-divided on various parameters “ from region to religion, caste and emotion. Take the case of the MoI issue which has been playing hide-and-seek for several years. Atishi Marlena may be right in saying from a central perspective that the medium of instruction is a political issue and children can learn in any language. But welcome to Goa, and Marlena’s statement loses relevance since the ground realities are starkly contrasting. There cannot be a middle-path and issues like these will require AAP to take hard decisions and make tough choices. Decisions which can make or break their political fortunes. The Goa political maze is not that easy as it appears.
