Modi's Loss, a Warning to All - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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if the B.J.P. keeps falling back on its core agenda (Hindu nationalism cloaked in runaway pro-business dogma), it will be left only with its core support base (Hindu right-wingers and India Inc.). The A.A.P., in contrast, has come to stand for straight talk and transparency put in the service of the common people’s interests.
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the A.A.P. made an impressive electoral debut in the Delhi election of December 2013. Then it suffered three major setbacks. Soon after taking office, it failed to secure other parties’ backing for a signature anticorruption bill. As a result, the A.A.P.’s leader, the ex-bureaucrat-turned-social activist Arvind Kejriwal, resigned as Delhi’s chief minister. Partly as a result of that, the party had a poor showing in the general election in May.
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But Mr. Kejriwal apologized to voters — a rarity in Indian politics — and the party embarked on a period of soul-searching. It went back to basics, reaching out to constituents through a grassroots campaign that concentrated on their daily concerns, like corruption and access to electricity and water, education and healthcare. In order to better focus on the Delhi election, the A.A.P. eschewed national politics in the second half of 2014, refusing to run in most state elections, and it limited its criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. Its large cast of volunteers made aggressive use of social media —
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