AAP 3.0

Delhi elections have got over and people of Delhi have reposed their faith in Kejriwal once again. Though there was a sort of wave for the Aam Adami Party from the beginning, there were moments of doubt due to Shaheen Bagh and Anti-CAA protest. However, Kejriwal got some good advice in steering clear of any controversy by lying low and remaining politically neutral. He focused on his work rather than ranting out anti-Modi rhetoric which people do not like to buy. Hence the results. However, a huge task is cut out for Aam Adami party in its third term. Hence it should get working and stay focused on following key issues for the second term. 

First is pollution and cleanliness. There is just no compromise on this. Without a clean space and clean surroundings, human creativity and productivity are at risk. Apart from the visible loss in terms of health and quality of life indicators, we do not know how much we lose in terms of reduced creativity. We definitely deserve a better outer space than this. 

The second would be traffic and transport. We need to increase the mobility of people in the cities. More buses, schemes like odd-even, public transport promotion and last-mile connectivity should be put in place. Time has come for Delhi to have another ring road. 

Parking and market decongestion is another need of hour for Delhi. Delhi has many parks which is a very good thing. All these parks should be redeveloped by building underground parking in each one of them. Building multi-story mechanical parking and creating a no-vehicle zone in markets like Karol Bagh, Chandi Chowk by providing free last-mile connectivity would be a game-changer to uplift the face of Delhi. 

Fourth area of focus would be the regularisation of colonies which leads to decongestion. This is a major issue. Rather than regularizing land deeds, government would better grow the city in the vertical and create multi-story MIG or LIG flats so that more people could be accommodated in lesser space. This would help in better management of space which is anyway a scarcity in the city.

Fifth would be a better accounting of electricity and water. This could be achieved by installing smart electricity and water meter. For households above a certain income level, the government should ensure that people install solar cells for water heating or air-conditioning. All of this is doable.

In addition, the government should continue with the good work of school education, mohalla clinic, and mohalla sabhas. Delhi could be a model of development for the entire world. It could be an example of how a city despite being congested, over-populated and unstructured, managed to become a world-class city. Though few pre-conditions to this are pretty clear.

Firstly, the Delhi government should better not antagonize the central government who is a major fund provider. Secondly focus should be clearly on governance and development issues rather than political issues. Thirdly, a greater political consensus mixed with a hard-headed approach is necessary to achieve these goals. Fourth, the primary focus should be on local issues rather than the bigger dream of emerging as an all-India competitor of BJP or Congress.

People of Delhi have bestowed a great opportunity and blessing on the Aam Adami party by reposing their faith in them. They better not fritter away this golden opportunity.