As the BJP takes power in Delhi defeating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with a vast majority, social activist Anna Hazare took a swipe at the AAP, attributing its loss to its liquor policy and prioritization of money over public service.
The AAP, which emerged from Hazare’s 2011 anti-corruption movement, trailed behind the BJP, which was leading with 48 seats, while AAP lagged with 22 as votes were counted for the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
Hazare, who parted ways with Kejriwal when he founded AAP in 2012, criticized the party for straying from the principle of selfless service. He stated, “Money took the front seat, which dented AAP’s image, leading to its defeat.”
Criticizing AAP for their liquor policy issues Hazare remarked, “With the liquor policy issue came the money, and they drowned in it. The AAP’s image was tarnished. People saw Kejriwal talking about clean character and then about liquor.”
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have accused the AAP of the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22, alleging that license holders were granted undue favor. Introduced in November 2021, the policy was revoked in September 2022 following corruption allegations.
Hazare reasserted his long-held opposition to political ambitions and stated, “I have been saying from the beginning that a candidate’s character should be clean and spotless. They should know the virtues of sacrifice and have the capacity to tolerate insults. These qualities win people’s trust. I kept saying this, but they did not understand.”
Criticisms of Kejriwal by Hazare has become a recurring trend in his disapproval of Kejriwal’s actions. In his first letter to Kejriwal in 2022 after assuming power amid the liquor case scam Hazare stated that the Aam Aadmi Party, born out of the anti-corruption movement, had begun “following the path of other parties.”
