Behind AAP’s growing ties to KCR’s BRS

The inquiry into the alleged Delhi liquor scam has revealed connections that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may have made with the southern business circuit. The AAP’s bonhomie with Telanagana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) indicates that AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal hopes to achieve a significant political breakthrough in southern India. He will be able to further his political ambitions and AAP’s financial needs in the process.

Since the founding of the AAP in 2012, Arvind Kejriwal has taken keen interest in the southern states. A chunk of the funding for the 2015 Delhi assembly elections reportedly came from Karnataka and Maharashtra corporate associations and individuals. Recall that AAP had initially succeeded in forging important ties with Bollywood personalities who backed Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement.

Kejriwal’s Need For Allies

AAP required a new gateway to the south of the Vindhyas since Kejriwal eventually lost all of those relationships and the political organisation of the party was never strong in the south. This could explain the deepening collaboration between the AAP and the BRS in everything from parliamentary matters to joining forces in various states. There is a significant difference between the AAP-BRS and AAP-TMC ties. The latter was essentially a personal relationship between Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee.

Kejriwal hasn’t been good at forging partnerships, which is one skill that he is yet to master. From the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections for the seven Delhi constituencies to the Bharatiya Tribal Party in Gujarat, the Goa Forward Party in Goa, and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, AAP has continually failed to forge alliances, which would have helped it eventually.

Although there won’t be any immediate seat sharing in any of the elections as a result of the affiliation with the BRS, the AAP is in a much better political position than KCR’s party, and KCR may choose to project his “friend from Delhi” to Telangana voters in the upcoming assembly elections. Interestingly, despite its intention to expand into Telangana, the AAP is now maintaining a strategic silence on this matter.

The AAP-BRS Equation

According to AAP insiders, KCR’s visit to the Delhi government schools on May 20, 2022, was the first indication of the friendship. Along with visiting these schools with Delhi CM Kejriwal and deputy CM Manish Sisodia, he also spoke highly of the AAP administration. Three months later, the CBI began investigating the alleged financial fraud related to the Delhi liquor policy, and that is when the relationship between AAP and BRS became public knowledge. CBI also named Sisodia as an accused in its case.

The prosecution version of the alleged Delhi liquor scam points to an AAP strategy for establishing business ties with southern industrial conglomerates. The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that Vijay Nair, the Aam Aadmi Party’s communications in-charge who is currently in custody, handled the party’s entire financial strategy. Interestingly, the allegations suggest the ties extended beyond Telangana to Andhra Pradesh businesses too.

The growing bonding between the AAP and BRS is another sign of opposition political parties rebranding their politics. The Delhi Chief Minister recently joined KCR’s Khammam rally alongside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The Left and the SP, among other major parties, were also in attendance. KCR has never been afraid to discuss his desire to advance politically.

Mission Karnataka?

After converting his Telangana Rashtra Samithi into the BRS, KCR has demonstrated that he is a key player in the competition to represent the opposition. Earlier, KCR had repeatedly suggested a third front. Because both AAP and BRS are engaged in a conflict with the BJP while also having significant differences with Congress, the relationship between the AAP and BRS has fewer contradictions. Just as forming a partnership with Congress could be fatal for the AAP, the BRS will also avoid the Grand Old Party.

Both Kejriwal and KCR want to increase their influence in the opposition space, which is currently dominated by political parties such as Congress and its direct allies. It is unlikely that these political parties will cooperate in Telangana, Delhi, or Punjab politics. The BRS has nothing to offer AAP in the northern states, and the AAP is a non-entity in Telangana. However, AAP insiders think that  Kejriwal may benefit from KCR’s backing in the next Karnataka assembly elections, especially in the Hyderabad Karnataka region, and financial support in rebuilding the AAP in Karnataka.

AAP’s growth at a time when the BJP is at the zenith of its powers is impressive. But Kejriwal requires allies from like-minded parties if he wants to play a bigger position in Indian politics. He has frustrated the aspirations of Congress and various regional parties in Delhi, Punjab, and in small states where AAP is now in a position to play spoiler. Therefore, at this point, the friendship between AAP and BRS is not just about gaining votes but also about being strategic in gaining more space in  the opposition arena by projecting a united front.

Sayantan Ghosh is a Columnist and Doctoral Research Scholar In Media & Politics. He tweets @sayantan_gh. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.