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Dear Shri Arvind Kejriwal,

Congratulations. As I write this letter to you, I am choking. It is a red letter day in Indian politics. Hope is ack. Space !or alternative politics is alive and kicking. "eople power hasspoken and one amongst us has won. Delhi has spoken !or India. Delhi has voted to protectdemocracy. #egative politics has een dealt a death low. All parties will e !orced to come

ack to an agenda which is positive, transparent and accounta le. And Arvind Kejriwal ,you personi!ied our hopes o! new kind o! politics.

#ow, $ur responsi ility o! giving you another chance to !ul!il your un!ul!illed promises iscomplete. It is mission accomplished. During this arduous course, we had invested our time,energy and resources. %e had lost old !riends, made new enemies. %e were ridiculed !orsupporting you, !or your past &mistakes. It is now your responsi ility to make us proud. Asyou start your journey a!resh, I wish to give you a '( point cheat sheet)

'. *ind ways o! working with +odi government. ou should ena le this to happen. -he moreyou reach out to your opponents, the igger the leader you are.

. #ot every one is purchasa le. %hen I oppose you, it is a elie!. #othing more./. #ot every ureaucrat is corrupt. It is your team. 0ive them the support and con!idence torun an e!!icient, !earless administration.1. #ot every usinessman is a cheat and pro!it motive is not a crime. our government willsucceed only i! usinesses succeed.2. -here is a ig di!!erence etween populism and eing popular. Don&t uy popularity withschemes that cost a om .3. Activism and governance don&t always go with each other. +utant 4e els and real li!eheroes don&t always make good administrators.5. %hite and lack are colours in the periphery. -he majority is grey and AA" is noe6ception. Don&t paint yoursel! white ecause you will e cornered on your own standards.7. A !ew in AA" have joined !or the power. It is time you take them down, one y one.8. -o create a lasting corporate enterprise takes a decade. A social enterprise is a !ar iggerand longer task. Don&t e in a hurry. 4ule Delhi well and e6pand with caution. Don&t kill ourmovement. #urture it.'(. 9ong ack, you had told me &I will prove through our governance in Delhi&. :6pandgradually. -here is no hurry. 9ook at how +odi marketed the 0ujarat governance story a!ter'( years.

%hen you were contesting, It was as i! I was contesting. our pressure, pain and urden weremine. I put mysel! ehind you. I avoided ;uestioning glaring issues. #ow it is an openseason. I go ack to my

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+aheshwer "eri

-he >haratiya ?anata "arty @>?" was con!ident o! getting a clear majority in Delhi a!ter itsstunning 9ok Sa ha win last year, ut the party couldnBt sei?"Bsde!eat.

1. Late mover ) Arvind Kejriwal resigned in *e ruary last year. -he >?" spent many monthsa!ter that deciding whether to !orm a government with the support o! re el AA" and Congress+9As. >y the time it made up its mind, it was too late. -he outcome may have een di!!erenti! it had allowed the Delhi polls right a!ter the 9ok Sa ha elections. It !rittered away itsadvantage y pushing the date while the AA" never lowered its guard.

2. Party of haves ) -he >?" started looking like a party o! haves with no ase among the

lower middle class and unauthorised colonies. -he party rode the +odi wave to achieve a13 vote share in the 9ok Sa ha polls, ut did not capitalise on that to uild the organisationat the lower level.

3. Negative campaign ) Compared to the AA"Bs positive campaign, the >?" unleashed a high=deci el attack on the AA" and Arvind Kejriwal. It descri ed AA" leader Kejriwal as a

hagoda, or deserter, and spent its energy highlighting the poor governance o! the 18 days theAA" was in power.

Its shrill campaign even antagonised the middle class, which voted !or the >?" in the 9okSa ha ut !elt a it disillusioned a!ter eight months o! #arendra +odi rule. -he >?"Bscampaign was also hit a!ter road shows were cancelled at the last minute. :ven >?" presidentAmit ShahBs rally had to e cancelled as the party could not get the re;uired permission,re!lecting lack o! coordination in the state unit.

4. Confusion about strategy ) -here was con!usion within the >?" over strategy. It !irstdecided to ride the +odi wave, then changed track to project Kiran >edi as the candidate !orthe chie! ministerBs jo and !ell ack on +odi again a!ter the !ormer I"S o!!icer !ailed to

oost the partyBs campaign.

Comparatively, the AA" was more consistent. -he >?" also took a ig hit a!ter Shah tookcampaigning as well as strategy in his hands ecause he was una le to understand theaspirations o! the average Delhi voter.

>edi, who was supposed to take on Kejriwal, also caused a major em arrassment to the partywith politically incorrect remarks during rallies and road shows, and y leaving interviewsmid=way. >?" workers did not warm to her way o! !unctioning and her election assistantresigned, accusing her o! eing a EdictatorF.

5. Factionalism ) -he >?"Bs Delhi unit was a vertically split group with hal! a do?" chie! Amit Shah got into

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damage control mode y ringing in rein!orcements !rom outside, ut a section o! Delhi >?"was working at cross purposes. -he party initially decided to stick to the strategy o! notdeclaring a C+ to !ight !actionalism as there was no consensus amongst the leaders over acandidate. It, however, it changed tactics days e!ore the assem ly election and declared

!ormer I"S o!!icer Kiran >edi as its contender !or the top jo . -he >edi !actor is now underthe scanner as many leaders had e6pressed their reservations over !ielding her as thecandidate !or the C+Bs jo .