No city has this kind of a khichdi or a mish-mash governance: Jasmine Shah

How would you define the Delhi model of governance?

The Delhi model of governance is dedicated to bringing a drastic improvement in the quality of life of an average citizen. As we have seen in the last few decades, governance in India is divorced from the day-to-day life of a citizen. What does an average family worry about? They worry about getting good quality education for their children. They worry about healthcare. They want 24×7 electricity and water supply, good public transport. This is where the Delhi model stands out as fairly unique.

At a larger level, it’s about investing in human capital. This is where it stands apart from the economic ideology of the BJP and the Congress which has largely been about promoting big business and industrial growth. Here’s a model of governance that fiercely believes in empowering the average citizen, investing in human capital. At the same time, we are providing a social security net for the most vulnerable. That is where all the free schemes of the AAP government come in.

In this book, I talk about the differences of the Delhi model from other models, especially of Gujarat, which is the poster child for the trickle-down economic approach. Gujarat today has the worst determinants of health and education in the country. Yet, it is touted as a model of development that everybody should aspire to. I’ve made the case that not only is the Gujarat model undesirable, but it should also be replaced with something more desirable like the Delhi model.

It is interesting that you draw a comparison between the Delhi and the Gujarat models.

It is the current flavour. Most of our national politics and governance debate tends to be about Central government schemes and policies while most of the governance happens at the State level. In the last 10-15 years, which other States have claimed that they have a model of development that others should emulate? Gujarat claimed the credit with heavy propaganda. Narendra Modi’s rise to power was on the back of that claim.

The Gujarat model is presented as the blueprint for the country’s development. We have reposed faith in big business houses, giving them lakhs and crores of loan waivers, huge corporate tax cuts and incentives. If you look at the health and education expenditure of the Central government—and I have put all the statistics in the book—it’s actually declining. After COVID-19, when all countries are increasing their investments in public health, India is perhaps the only country that has reduced its expenditure. We rank 170 out of 180 countries in our per capita health spending.

From where do we get these ideas? From the person who is called the face of the Gujarat model—Narendra Modi. This is not about two individuals, but about two distinct ideologies of governance.

You speak of the Delhi model as an example of trickle-up economics. Is there data to show that it has helped the economy of Delhi?

Everybody is familiar with the trickle-down model, which both the UPA government and the current NDA regime have followed. It is based on the assumption that if you give lavish incentives to big business houses so they can make investments and offer jobs, the prosperity will hopefully trickle down to the aam aadmi [common man]. I present plenty of data from the works of the French economist Thomas Piketty to show that India today is one of the most unequal countries in the world. Especially over the last three decades, the top 10 per cent is growing further and further apart from the lower levels in terms of average wealth owned or average income. They are taking a larger share of the national income while the share of the bottom 50 per cent is decreasing. So, it [the model] hasn’t worked for us.

Trickle-up economics is an antidote to trickle-down. Here the belief is that the government just needs to create a fair playing field for business houses. You don’t need to empty the state coffers for them. The government’s duty instead is to invest in empowering the lower and middle classes. We hear “Vishwa Guru” talking about Developed India. Yet, just a few kilometres outside Delhi, you see rural areas getting six to eight hours of power cuts every day.

We believe that if you strengthen the masses, give them good quality education, healthcare, public services, their contribution to the economy will grow over time. We also believe in putting some money into the pockets of the aam aadmi. It creates demand in the economy. Recent economic data shows that in the last four years, corporate profits have increased four times, but the average wages of the people haven’t increased. But if you give to the aam aadmi, that money is going to circulate and find its way back in the economy.

I present economic data from Delhi to show that we are the only government in the history of India to be spending consistently around 40 per cent of our budget in health and education alone. Our revenues have increased by two-and-a-half times over the last 10 years, which is unprecedented in Delhi’s history. Delhi has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio. We have the highest minimum wages, which again affect the aam aadmi. Gujarat has among the lowest minimum wages in India. We have the lowest inflation in the country. And Delhi has one of the lowest unemployment rates among the States and Union Territories (UT) of India. Our growth is also at par with the national average. I am making the case through this book that the Delhi model of governance is not just a model of social reform. It’s not just about health and education. It is a well-rounded model of governance that works both for the people and the economy.

You say in the book that the genesis of the Delhi model lay in a reaction of Kejriwal on X to one of Modi’s announcements about the Make in India campaign.

That was the first public indication of [the Delhi model]. We have to take ourselves back to 2013 when the AAP first broke into the political scene. In 2015, when it formed a government with 67 out of 70 seats, the mood was upbeat not just in Delhi but also across India. There was hope that these people [the AAP] will come up with something radically new. And the AAP actually promised that when it said, “Hum vyavastha parivartan karenge” [We will change the system].

The fundamental philosophy of the AAP and Make India First comes from the background of people like Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. They have struggled, seen the average life of the aam aadmi. Kejriwal was an income tax officer. He gave up his job and worked for 10 years in the slums of Delhi. Similarly, Sisodia had decades of experience as a journalist reporting on schools. I spoke to him when I was writing the book and he said, “It seems like the government has checked out of the school system.”

When they came to power, they made it their primary agenda to work on issues that can empower the aam aadmi. The first indication was in September 2015, just a few months after Kejriwal became the Chief Minister, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Make in India scheme. He spoke about giving incentives so that companies come and manufacture in India. Kejriwal immediately responded saying that more than Make in India, we need Make India First. If you invest in our people, making sure they are highly educated and skilled, investors will automatically come to India. In that one X exchange, you got two profoundly different visions for India.

In the coming election, will people vote on the basis of the performance of the Delhi model or will anti-incumbency be a more important factor?

The AAP has an abiding belief in kaam ki rajneeti [politics of work]. Today, the AAP is the only party whose ideology is centred on its work. Even in this election, our greatest currency is our work. After 10 years of being in power, some anti-incumbency comes in. There has also been an unprecedented attempt by the BJP at the Centre to ignore the mandate of the elected government. It has tried to snatch power, derail schemes, influence officers. I write about that in the final chapter of my book. Still, we are confident that the people of Delhi know that in the last 10 years, their lives have been transformed in multiple ways.

You write that fighting corruption is an important element of the Delhi model. There have been many allegations of corruption against AAP leaders.

I’ve highlighted three pillars of the Delhi model of governance. Number one is investing in human capital. Number two is declaring war on corruption. I actually write that this platitude of zero tolerance for corruption means nothing because it’s all around you. Only an activist government and a Chief Minister can eliminate it. The third pillar of the Delhi model is fiscal prudence.

As far as the war on corruption is concerned, the AAP government has taken multiple initiatives to that effect such as the doorstep delivery of services. What you are referring to is the worst kind of political vendetta that any party in India has seen. In recent public memory, we have the excise policy case. But over the last 10 years, more than 200 cases have been filed against AAP leaders, all of them by federal agencies—the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI], the Enforcement Directorate [ED], and the Income Tax Department. In no case has there been a conviction. The BJP has made a mockery of the CBI and the ED. When Kejriwal got bail in September 2024, the Supreme Court called out the CBI as a caged parrot, a reference it had made 11 years back. So, nothing has changed.

Today, all our leaders are out of jail. The liquor policy case has gone into cold storage. If they had found any illegal activity, we would not have got any relief. The idea was to finish off the AAP through these cases. Their hope was that by putting all our top leaders in jail, they will dissolve the party.

You write about the tussle with the Centre and the confrontations with the Lieutenant Governor. How do you plan to carry out your agenda in this situation?

With the powers the Delhi Chief Minister has as of date, the AAP is best placed to do things for the people. We have shown that in the last 10 years. It is a story of hope and optimism for people who read the book that here’s a government that not only had less powers to begin with, but with every passing year, had more powers were taken away from it. Yet, through sheer political will and clarity of purpose, we have managed to transform sectors. The scale of change seen by Delhi, which is a UT, hasn’t been seen even by a State.

As to the resolution of this crisis, I state in my book that there is a short-term solution and a long- term solution. Short term is that whenever this matter [dispute over the allocation of power between the Delhi government and the Central government represented by the Lieutenant Governor] has gone to the Supreme Court, it has ruled in favour of the elected government of Delhi. The Supreme Court has said that in a democracy, once the people have voted, the government should have the powers. When you have an elected Chief minister and a government, you can’t put powers under the selected person.

Every time the Supreme Court has given a mandate in favour of the elected government, the BJP has passed some law. We have challenged the Acts, one from 2021 and another from 2023, of the Central government, and for both these, the benches are yet to be constituted. I hope the Supreme Court moves fast because the BJP is trying to erode the validity of a democratically elected government.

For the long term, I propose a solution involving carving out a small, 3-4 per cent of the landmass at the centre of Delhi which comes under the Central government. Make it a UT. The remaining 95 per cent of Delhi should be regarded as a full State.

No city has this kind of a khichdi or a mish-mash governance. It’s injustice to the people of Delhi. When they vote, they believe their vote will change their destiny, only to realise that somebody else is controlling their destiny.

In this context, how do you view the recent development where two departments of the Delhi government issued public notices stating that the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, which provides Rs.2,100 to non-taxpaying women, and the Sanjeevani Yojana, which provides free healthcare to senior citizens, have not been notified?

The bureaucracy of Delhi has made a joke of itself. What did the AAP do? We are approaching elections. We are determining our agenda for the next five years. So, we announced two schemes and said that these are our electoral promises, we will implement them once the government comes to power. These were launched as party promises. Bureaucrats came and said that there are no schemes of this sort. This shows that the bureaucracy is not reporting to the Chief Minister but is acting on the behest of their political opponent. It’s a joke not just on Delhi but also on India. We are talking about the national capital.