Aam Aadmi Party completes two years
The Aam Aadmi Party celebrated its second birthday on 26th November. Formed with an objective to tackle the rampant corruption prevalent in the country the Aam Aadmi Party made an instant connect with the masses. Its real achievement however came in the legislative elections of New Delhi in 2013. The party which was making its election debut notched up 28 out of the 70 seats to emerge as the second largest party.
Below is a brief timeline of “the common man’s party”
2011-12: Anna Hazare led “Team Anna” launch nationwide movements to implement the Jan Lokpal Bill.
2012: Difference of opinion begin to emerge between Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare. Hazare wanted to be politically neutral in his efforts to push the issue of the Lokpal Bill. Kejriwal on the other hand wanted to join the “system” in order to change it.
In September of 2012 both Hazare and Kejriwal agreed that differences between them regarding role in politics were irreconcilable. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti Kejriwal announced the formation of a new party whose official launch will be made on 26th November.
26th November 2012: Aam Aadmi Party officially comes into existence.
23rd March 2013: Arvind Kejriwal starts an indefinite strike to protest against the inflated water and electricity bills. On 6th April Kejriwal ended the strike after being urged by Anna Hazare.
18th May 2013: AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas and Yogendra Yadav attened a convention in Chicago consisting of Indian-Americans from 20 different states in the US.
November 2013: AAP adopts the broom ‘jhadu’ as its election symbol. The party also released its Election Manifesto promising to implement the Lokpal Bill within 15 days if it came to power.
December 2013: AAP takes everyone by surprise as it emerges the second largest party in the Delhi legislative elections. On 28th December the Aam Aadmi Party formed a coalition government with Congress making Kejriwal Delhi’s second youngest Chief Minisiter.
One of the first decisions taken by Kejriwal and his party since coming to power was to increase the electricity subsidy for up to 400 units. In addition to this people having metered connections were eligible to draw up to 20 kilo liters of water per month.
January 2014: Kejriwal and his supporters protested at the Rail Bhavan against union government Home Ministry.
March 2014: The party seeks re-election following fallout with Congress.
In its short span of two years the party has come a long way. It has tasted both success and had its fair share of controversies. With the Delhi re-election set to take place next year, AAP will be looking to form a government on its own.
