‘Hard Time To Be An Opposition Leader’: What Does Kejriwal’s Arrest Mean For The Opposition As Polls Near

Opposition leaders have hit out hard against the arrest of Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal terming it as a ”political conspiracy” of the ruling party just ahead of the elections. Earlier this year former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren was arrested in a similar manner, followed by BRS leader K Kavitha.

In a press conference on Thursday, the Congress party said their bank accounts were frozen due to allegations of delay in filing tax returns. And later in the day, Arvind Kejriwal was arrested adding to the opposition’s seemingly unending list of troubles.

Where Does The Opposition Stand?

Political theorist Aditya Nigam believes it is a hard time to be an opposition leader. “It’s a very difficult time for AAP, it is also going to be difficult for Congress without access to their bank account. Overall for INDIA it’s going to be a very very tough battle,” he says.

From the controversial appointment of the Election Commissioners to Electoral Bonds and ED raids, Aditya Nigam says that in the past one year the chances of having “free elections” have been destroyed.

“Let me be very clear, these are not elections so let us not fool ourselves anymore. The government has been doing it from 2014 onwards but the last one year- the desperate way in which all the institutions have been trampled under foot - these are not elections. This is about the systematic destruction of the opposition. It is about doing it the Vladimir Putin or the North Korea way.”

Kejriwal’s arrest has seen the opposition leaders come together in support of the Delhi CM, a development that Nigam believes could strengthen their alliance, which has recently had its cracks exposed.

“In a way this arrest is going to be Modi’s Waterloo,” he says.

Kejriwal's Welfare Ideology

Aditya Nigam, who used to be a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, says that one of the reasons why the BJP considers Kejriwal a threat is because of his distinctive welfare ideology which seems to have worked with the masses.

“He is the one person who is being seen as somebody who is offering a different, distinct platform. Others seem to be more or less the same. A lot of the problem which Modi and the current regime has with Kejriwal is because it is actually presenting an alternative vision which has actually been shown in practice, it’s not just a declaration on paper. People definitely know what’s happening in Delhi and in Punjab and people are beginning to think why can’t we have the same things,” Aditya Nigam told Outlook.

The fear within the BJP, Nigam says, is that their Hindu-Muslim ideology would not work if people start asking for what Kejriwal is promising. “The fact is what they have actually been doing, which is universal access to education, universal access to water, universal access to electricity - there’s no discrimination. That actually cuts across the whole Hindu-Muslim discourse.”

Kejriwal’s Delhi model was used by the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar during elections, says the political theorist. Congress then also replicated it in Karnataka and then in Telangana, “and it is now being increasingly accepted by the different segments of the INDIA alliance also.”

“The reason BJP can’t do it has to do with certain very close tie-ups with corporate interests.”

Hence, given Kejriwal’s appeal to the common masses, Nigam says, he becomes a key opposition figure.

Filmmaker Nakul Singh Sawhney who works in western UP shared a post on X saying the Aam Aadmi Party had caught the imagination of the people in the area like no other party.

“Many are not just excited about Kejriwal's welfarist agenda but also look forward to the party's growth in these parts. It's actually incredible that today issues like public health and public education are part of public discourses in West UP,” his post read.

“Something that just didn't exist till recently. That is what Kejriwal has been able to achieve.

In fact, in some parts of India, it is Kejriwal who genuinely strikes people as an Opposition to Modi. And that's why the arrest.”

BJP'S 370 Seat Promise

Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla criticised Kejriwal’s arrest calling out the ED for acting like “an arm of the BJP or Bajrang Dal”.

“We already have one CM, Hemant Soren in jail and now another CM is being arrested and just today the principal opposition party Congress in a press conference said that their account has been frozen on a tax claim. Political parties are not taxed. They have received notices from the 1990s, disputes of 1990s, all this while elections are round the corner…” he said in a video shared by ANI.

“...Are we heading towards a one party rule? If the BJP is so confident of Abki Baar 400 paar, why are they targeting the opposition and not allowing for a level playing field,” he adds.

Aditya Nigam says there is no way BJP will be able to deliver on its promise of 370 seats. “In their heart of hearts BJP knows that if it were a free election they’re losing it. There is absolutely no way they would have won the election, they know it and that is why all this is happening.”

“Since the last election, they don't have one extra seat to get in most places. If anything, there will be a loss in some seats because now they are facing a united opposition,” Nigam says.