The AAP as an Opposition party seems to have gone back to its roots of protests and dharnas — both inside and outside the Delhi Assembly — and holding the ruling party accountable.
These protests are cementing leader of the Opposition (LoP) Atishi’s hold on the party, which is treading lightly with the awareness that it will need the cooperation of the new BJP government here to get work done in constituencies the AAP has won.
“We have protested more since the Lok Sabha polls than we did in the five years preceding it. These protests have been issue-based and symbolic. However, we know that daily protests will reduce our political capital as it is even more important for Opposition MLAs to ensure development in their seats,” an AAP source told The Telegraph.
“These protests are also establishing Atishi as an LoP and giving her a more aggressive makeover. This is a real test for her,” the source added.
On the first day of the new Assembly session on February 24, the AAP protested against the BJP not fulfilling its promise of sanctioning the ₹2,500 monthly grant for women in the first cabinet meeting. The AAP members later raised slogans protesting the alleged removal of the portraits of B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from the chief minister’s office in the Assembly. The Speaker ordered their suspension through a majority vote and had them marshalled out of the House.
Veteran journalist and former AAP leader Ashutosh said: “Protests are in the AAP’s natural DNA. It sends out the message to voters, party cadres and MLAs that the AAP is not dead and it will raise their issues even if they are out of power.”