Arvind Kejriwal had meteoric rise in the political firmament of India. He appeared as a warrior determined to decimate the demon of corruption by playing a leading role in the India Against Corruption movement. In the aftermath of IAC, he formed the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012 with the promise of cleansing politics of corruption.

Because of his image as an anti-corruption crusader, people had a lot of expectations from him and his party. That is why the party could bag 28 seats in its first assembly election in Delhi in 2013. Thereafter, he won the last two elections with a landslide victory, obtaining 67 seats in 2015 and 62 in 2020.

The defeat of Kejriwal in his own New Delhi Constituency and his party's humiliating defeat in 2025 is a great crisis for Kejriwal personally and his party. The BJP trounced the AAP by winning 48 seats, leaving only 22 seats for the AAP and zero for the Congress Party. Although the difference in the vote share of the BJP and AAP is only 2 per cent, the defeat of AAP's top leaders like Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, and Saurav Bharadwaj is a great shock to the party.

Political analysts have put forward various reasons for AAP's defeat: anti-incumbency along with the failure of AAP to fulfil its various promises; allegations of corruption charges against its leaders, including Kejriwal and their incarceration in jail; constant friction between the Lieutenant General (LG) and the AAP government, often leading to paralysis of administration; failure of the AAP government to solve civic issues like air pollution, lack of cleanliness, and dilapidated roads etc.; Kejriwal's alleged opulent lifestyle; BJP's promise of new freebies along with the assurance of continuing the existing schemes started by the AAP; shifting of middle-class votes to the BJP mainly due to the income tax cut in the 2025-26 budget; and the rift between the Congress and the AAP.

Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, former colleagues of Arvind Kejriwal, attributed the defeat of the Aam Aadmi Party to the party supremo's "bluster, propaganda" and "shift from the idea of providing an alternative politics." According to them, Kejriwal deviated from the original vision of the party. "Kejriwal is largely responsible for AAP's Delhi debacle. A party formed for alternative politics which was supposed to be transparent, accountable and democratic was quickly transformed by Arvind into a supremo dominated, non-transparent and corrupt party which didn't pursue a Lokpal and removed its own Lokpal," Prashant Bhushan said. He also criticised Kejriwal for building a 45 crore "sheesh mahal" (crystal palace) for himself and travelling in luxury cars.

Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta, in an article titled "AAP Set Electoral Narrative in Delhi But Its Ideology-Free Politics Became Its Biggest Challenge" in The Wire, pointed out the party's lack of an ideological anchor as its greatest weakness. As its welfare-delivery model was choked by the BJP-led Centre, its leaders and cadre struggled to restrict the voters' drift.

According to Ajoy, unlike the BJP, whose Hindutva appeal often lets its supporters ignore its governance failures, the AAP had nothing to hang on to. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi's invocations of constitutional nationalism—as opposed to Hindu nationalism—have brought a large section of minorities and Dalits under the Congress umbrella across India.

The political journey of Kejriwal shows that he became highly ambitious, and capturing power and remaining in power became his main objective, according to his critics. For the sake of power, he was ready to make any compromise. An anti-corruption warrior of the India Against Corruption movement was lately accused in a Delhi liquor scam. The accusation is yet to be proven in a court of law; still, many people think there could be a grain of truth to it.

The AAP often positioned itself as a party focused on governance, development, and public welfare rather than religious or ideological identity. There is a kind of duplicity in its approach to secularism, a core value of the Indian Constitution. While appearing to be secularist, it tries to appeal to Hindu sentiments in a softer way. The AAP under Kejriwal has no clarity of a vision of India to which it will contribute. Its policies and actions exhibit that it supports a soft Hindutva. For example, Kejriwal has frequently invoked his Hindu identity, referring to himself as a "devout Hanuman bhakt" (Hanuman devotee). He recited the Hanuman Chalisa on national television before the 2020 Delhi elections. During his campaigns, he visited temples and emphasised Hindu symbols, a move that was seen as appealing to Hindu voters.

Under the Delhi government's Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana, free pilgrimages are provided for senior citizens, including trips to Hindu holy sites like Ayodhya (Ram Mandir), Varanasi, and Dwarka. In 2023, he launched a special train for pilgrims travelling to Ayodhya, which was viewed as an endorsement of the Ram Mandir movement.

Kejriwals' positioning on Hindutva issues also clearly indicates that he is looking for Hindu votes. He has avoided direct criticism of the Ram Mandir movement and has instead supported pilgrimages to Ayodhya. He demanded that images of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha be printed on Indian currency, a move interpreted as an attempt to appeal to religious sentiments. AAP has largely refrained from opposing policies seen as pro-Hindutva, such as the revocation of Article 370 in Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Kejriwal often remained silent on controversial Hindutva issues like attacks on minorities or, hate speech by right-wing groups or Delhi riots in 2020 in which 38 Muslims and 15 Hindus were killed. His government has taken strong action against perceived radical Islamist elements but has been cautious in criticising Hindutva extremism. In short, Kejriwal's strategy seems to be to position AAP as a viable alternative to the BJP while not taking a stand against Hindutva. He actively integrates Hindu cultural and religious themes into governance, often pushing policies that align with Hindutva ideology.

Some partners of the INDIA block find fault with the Congress for not aligning with the AAP. According to the Congress party, the AAP first announced that it would go alone in the Delhi Assembly election. Many political observers presume that Kejriwal dreams of becoming the Prime Minister of India and that aligning with the Congress would spoil his dream. He is not bothered about the BJP destroying the secular character of India and violating many constitutional values. If Kejriwal were sincerely concerned about safeguarding the secular democracy of India, he would have taken the initiative to align with Congress, allotting a respectful number of seats to it.

It appears that Kejriwal's hubris led to his party's defeat. According to media reports, the Congress received more votes than the winning margin in 14 constituencies where the BJP emerged victorious, defeating AAP candidates, including Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia. If there had been an alliance between the two parties, they would have won the election.

The defeat of the Aam Aadmi Party, especially of its leader Aravind Kejriwal, in the Delhi assembly election has a lesson for all highly ambitious politicians who compromise with ideology or vision for the sake of power. The original vision of AAP was a corruption-free India based on its constitutional values.

The Delhi election also taught a lesson for all opposition parties, especially the Congress Party. The BJP's robust victory in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi has emboldened the party, which was weakened in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The BJP has already declared that its next target is West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee, who often refuses to align with Congress, has to soften her stand to strengthen the INDIA block.

As the biggest party in the alliance, Congress must be generous and accommodating by taking the initiative to reinvent the INDI Alliance. Along with strengthening the alliance, the Congress has to rebuild its organisation from the grassroots level. Without a strong organisation, the Congress will not be able to counter the BJP, which has lakhs of dedicated workers as members of the Sangh Parivar, vast financial resources, and the whole administrative machinery, particularly the investigation agencies, which it liberally uses to target opposition party members.

The INDIA block highlighted the importance of the Indian Constitution as the bedrock of the rights of the common people during the last Lok Sabha election. Based on this, the INDIA block has to achieve ideological coherence by agreeing to safeguard and promote Indian Constitutional values. The alliance also has to agree on a Common Minimum Programme in response to the pressing issues of the people like joblessness, sliding economic growth, global economic uncertainty due to the maverick policies of Donal Trump of the USA, the rising economic inequality, increasing hatred and divisiveness in society etc. To stop the BJP's goal of changing the Indian Constitution and converting India into a theocratic state, strengthening the INDIA alliance is urgent and essential.