The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered a crushing defeat in the Delhi assembly election 2025, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging victorious. Former AAP leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav have attributed the party’s loss to its leader Arvind Kejriwal’s “bluster” and shift away from alternative politics.
Kejriwal, who had founded the party in 2012 as a platform for anti-corruption activism, is widely criticized by his former colleagues for transforming the party into a supremo-dominated, non-transparent, and corrupt entity. Bhushan accused Kejriwal of prioritizing personal interests over policy, building an extravagant “sheesh mahal” for himself, and rejecting expert committee reports.
Yadav, who was expelled from the AAP in 2015, described the party’s loss as a setback not just for the AAP but for alternative politics in India. He claimed that the party had abandoned its commitment to transparency and accountability and instead focused on welfare schemes that had reached saturation point.
The AAP’s defeat marks a significant turning point for the party, with many analysts predicting its eventual demise. Bhushan described Kejriwal’s loss as “the beginning of the end” of the AAP. The outcome also raises questions about the future of opposition politics in India and the prospects for alternative parties to emerge.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ousted-aap-leader-prashant-bhushan-explains-why-arvind-kejriwal-lost-delhi-election-beginning-of-the-end-101739062477623.html