What AAP’s defeat says about corruption as an issue in Indian politics

Welcome to The India Fix by Shoaib Daniyal. This time I unpack the Aam Aadmi Party defeat in Delhi and try and draw an insight from it that applies across Indian politics: the relevance (or not) of corruption as an issue.

As always, if you’ve been sent this newsletter and like it, to get it in your inbox every week, sign up here (click on “follow”).

By Indian standards, the anti-corruption movement of 2011 was not particularly large. The Ramlila Maidan in Delhi where it began has a capacity of around 25,000 – a modest number for even routine political rallies in India.

However, what made it different was the incredible media attention it received. For months, it dominated headlines. Eventually, one section of this movement used this publicity to launch a new political outfit: the Aam Aadmi Party.

Boosted by media momentum, the Aam Aadmi Party shot off the blocks. In its very first election, for the 2013 Delhi Assembly, it managed to form the government. Curiously, it did so with support from the Congress – the very party that the AAP’s founders had attacked as irredeemable corrupt just a couple of years before.

Welfare > Corruption

Subsequently, in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi elections, the AAP won...

Read more