Decade-long AAP-BJP tussle reaches its climax

THE decade-long rivalry between the AAP led by Arvind Kejriwal and the BJP ruling at the Centre reached a crescendo on Thursday with the arrest of the Delhi chief minister by the ED in an excise policy-linked money laundering case.

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The tussle between the two sides began with their almost simultaneous rise to power with the BJP led by Narendra Modi receiving a massive mandate in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the AAP forming the government in Delhi with a historic victory a year later by winning 67 assembly seats out of 70.

Even before this, Kejriwal, after a brief stint as chief minister of Delhi in 2013, challenged Modi in a much publicised contest from Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, setting the stage for a rivalry that has continued over the years. Speaking in Delhi Assembly in February this year, Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, asserted that the AAP is "the biggest threat" to the BJP and vowed to liberate the country from it in the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.