BJP is the one facing anti-incumbency over law and order in Delhi... not us: Manish Sisodia
Manish Sisodia claims BJP lacks issues for Delhi elections, asserting AAP's focus on education and governance will secure their win amid anti-incumbency sentiment.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, who has shifted his constituency from Patparganj to Jangpura in the upcoming elections, says that the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has only raised the issue of Arvind Kejriwal’s former official residence because they don’t have any other issues to discuss. In an interview Sisodia spoke about the role he expects anti-incumbency to play in the elections, how Delhi’s education model remains the AAP’s main allure, and the tussle between the state government and the LG. Edited excerpts:

AAP has replaced many incumbent MLAs this time. Why is that? Did you get a sense of anti-incumbency?
I don’t know what people mean, when they say “anti-incumbency”. We have run the government for 10 years and the sense I get on ground is that people are satisfied. They are happy that thanks to (Arvind) Kejriwal, it’s become easier to live in Delhi – whether it’s in the sphere of education or health or in terms of electricity bills. I was in Ashram colony in Jangpura, where residents told me that 10-15 years ago, they used to take water from tankers and would store drinking water in vessels. But today they have pipelines and they have water supply. In the same breath, they pointed out that there are sewage problems in the area. They come to me with the faith that we will get work done. Broadly, people think that Kejriwal’s governance is improving their lives. One resident told me that if Kejriwal wasn’t there, it would have been harder to fight inflation.
People are not angry with us or with Kejriwal. In fact, people are angry with the BJP because they keep trying to create hurdles in the work we are doing. People are angry that the BJP has not been able to manage law and order in Delhi. They are facing anti-incumbency, not us.
As far as changing MLAs is considered, it’s a routine process.
Why did you shift your constituency from Patparganj to Jangpura?
It’s not a huge shift. (Narendra) Modi had also shifted his constituency from Gujarat to Uttar Pradesh. I have a vision on Delhi’s education, and my dream is that all the educationists of the country should be in the AAP. So, when I asked Avadh Ojha to consider joining politics, he asked where he could contest elections from. I told him he can pick any seat he wants. He said that since he’s lived in Patparganj and shares a relationship with the people there, he would like to fight from there. I agreed. I spoke to Kejriwal and the party and they had no problem .
The BJP has repeatedly brought up the issue of “Sheesh Mahal”, the nickname they have given to Kejriwal’s former residence at 6, Flag Staff Road. Do you think this will be a key poll issue on the ground?
When the BJP started talking about this, I laughed. They say that they are the world’s largest political party, but they don’t have leaders to convince the people of Delhi to vote for them, they don’t have issues to talk about. The only issue they have is Kejriwal’s toilet. Shame on them. They have formed governments in so many states. This is the third time they have formed central government, but they are fighting this election on the basis of Kejriwal’s toilet.
Delhi’s education model has been the AAP’s poll plank in the previous elections but this time, that’s not the case. The AAP seems have to got caught in the BJP’s narrative around “sheesh mahal” and the excise policy case.
I don’t think we have shifted our campaign. If you see my social media posts, at least two out of four are on education. Even when the party talks about elections, it’s all related to schools, hospitals, water and electricity. When Kejriwal talks about what we will do in the next five years, he talks about continuing our work on these subjects — schools, hospitals, water and electricity. Education is the first thing on our minds, and it’s the main plank we are banking on. The work done on education by us is such that it cannot be undone.
The top leadership of the AAP was in jail. Do you think governance suffered?
When I was in jail, I used to hear about how the schools I had signed off on were being built. Now that I am back, they are being inaugurated by Atishi who’s the chief minister now. In the last two months, she has inaugurated so many schools and they have all been built in the last two years. Students went to France; I signed the MoU for it. The BJP wants children of poor people to study in dilapidated schools. That’s why we stress so much on education, so that tomorrow, if we are not here, it will still work. The person who built IIT or IIM is gone but they are functioning, aren’t they? So, if we establish schools today, they will function long after we are gone. They put me in jail, they put Satyendra Jain in jail but despite that, the work that had to happen did happen. Both Kejriwal and I are not a part of the government anymore but work is still happening.
Don’t you think the constant tussle between the state government and the LG has impacted the lives of citizens ? If you return to power, wouldn’t this tussle continue to hassle the people?
The BJP has been trying to thwart the work we want to do since 2015. When we constructed good schools, they questioned us. When we wanted to install CCTVs in Delhi, they questioned us again. They tried to stop work on mohalla clinics, even free bus rides. They have tried to stop every project — but we did it anyway. If these hurdles were problems for us, no work would have happened in the city after 2015. But we remained steadfast in our commitment. We had to sit on dharnas, take the legal route but we made sure the work happened. The BJP will try to stall it, but we will make sure the work happens. That’s our guarantee. The power subsidy we give was unheard of earlier. It was considered a joke. But now, other states are also forced to think whether they can implement this subsidy. Fighting for people is our religion. Now, we will also fight them (the BJP) over law and order. We won’t let Delhi become the crime capital of the country.
There are allegations of corruption against members of the party. Hasn’t this dented your image as an “anti-corruption” party?
Interestingly, people are accusing the BJP... They believe that they have lowered the political discourse by troubling the people who actually do some work. These accusations against us are damaging the BJP, not us. Ever since I have come out of jail, I have held so many meetings with people and not once has anyone questioned me. People know these accusations are false. People have faith in Kejriwal and us. They have seen our work in the last 10 years.
There are rumblings within the INDIA group with the SP and TMC backing AAP, and Rahul Gandhi escalating attack on the AAP and Kejriwal. How does this equation in Delhi elections impact the larger alliance? Do you think AAP and Congress should have come together for this election?
This was not the intent when INDIA was formed. The alliance was formed to fight a national election and at that time too, we were fighting together in one state and fighting against each other in another state. The intent was never to fight every single election together. What’s unfortunate is that Congress doesn’t go after the BJP. A BJP leader made an indecent remark against their woman leader, and it boiled our blood, but Congress took four days to react. I was in the car when I heard what he (Ramesh Bidhuri) said (about Priyanka Gandhi)... But Congress didn’t react immediately. What is this alliance that Congress and the BJP have? They (BJP) are distributing cash, shoes and saris but Congress has not said anything about it. They will get voters deleted but Congress won’t say anything. But they will abuse Kejriwal. The Congress doesn’t attack the BJP. All they do is abuse us.
If the AAP comes back to power, will you be the deputy CM again?
It’s too early to think about this. I am married to education, so whatever work around education, Kejriwal asks me to do, I will. What is 100% certain is that Kejriwal will be the CM.
Do you think not having a CM face is hurting BJP’s chances?
Not having a vision is hurting them.
How many seats will the AAP win this time?
We will win comfortably. People want to make Kejriwal their CM again.
