The Aam Aadmi Party, which suffered a crushing defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls, is staring at an existential question — what now?

With its leader defeated, politics discredited, cadres in disarray and corruption cases hanging over it, the AAP is now facing an uphill battle for survival.

After it became clear that the party was losing power in Delhi, top AAP leaders gathered at Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Saturday afternoon. Conceding defeat in a webcast, Kejriwal set the line the party will take in the aftermath of the debacle: “Serve the people and stand by them in times of need.”

An AAP leader explained: “We have to monitor infrastructure that we set up — swimming pools in government schools, mohalla clinics and so on. Our 22 MLAs have to ensure that these are not shut down and protest if there is any deterioration. Our MLAs will have to be vigilant and we must be seen as actively protecting the right to affordable electricity.”

As the conversation veered towards the would-be leader of the Opposition, two names cropped up — outgoing chief minister Atishi and the party’s Delhi unit chief, Gopal Rai.

“Atishi gets a lot of support but the Assembly is going to have a whole new set of aggressive BJP MLAs. Perhaps Rai would be better in facing them on the floor,” an AAP source said.

Mash Sisodia leaves Kejriwal's residence in New Delhi on Saturday. PTI

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also attended the meeting. The onus of consolidating the party’s electoral presence will now fall on him, the AAP source added.

“We will be a constructive Opposition. We want to see the Yamuna cleaned. We want the BJP to implement its promise of empowering women with ₹2,500 a month across the country. We won’t oppose them if they do all these,” the source added.

Former AAP leader and journalist Ashutosh told The Telegraph that the AAP’s biggest asset was its moral capital. “Kejriwal began to lose once he started behaving like other politicians. His biggest undoing is losing that moral capital,” he said.

The AAP saw its vote bank getting eroded by corruption allegations, the “Sheeshmahal” controversy, Kejriwal’s remarks against Shaheen Bagh, and the party’s stand against illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. A resurgent BJP drove the final nail in the coffin.

“It is very difficult for Kejriwal as he faces a Centre that fiercely opposes him and is vengeful. It is going to be easier for central agencies to pick him up now and frighten the AAP brass.

“We can’t rule out the party disintegrating because that is what the BJP does to Opposition parties. The AAP’s strength was its volunteers. They are disillusioned. Few came out to greet Kejriwal when he was released from jail. They will be apprehensive of facing the police during protests now,” Ashutosh said.

A senior AAP leader said the Dalits and middle class had turned away from the AAP during the municipal polls in 2022. “We have suffered from the non-performance of the (AAP-ruled) Municipal Corporation of Delhi as well. But
our biggest enemy was the bureaucracy. When we are re-elected, we should deal with them differently.”

Kejriwal’s former media adviser Nagendar Sharma recommended a hard line on the Congress. “AAP’s unexplainable softness all throughout on Congress, particularly bending backwards to please it during Lok Sabha and Haryana Assembly elections, gave rabidly anti-AAP Delhi Congress leaders enough fodder to show that AAP needs to be dependent on them. Results clearly show that Cong in Delhi was a mere media illusion propped up by a clever BJP strategy,” he posted on X.