In politics, space is power. And in Delhi, AAP’s last remaining political turf—the MCD—was not just another civic body, it was the party’s last toehold after losing the Assembly and drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha. To cede even that ground without a fight is not just a misstep—it’s a surrender.

For Arvind Kejriwal, the road ahead is steep but clear. First, he must return to the people—not as a Chief Minister on the backfoot, but as a leader rebuilding trust brick by brick. That means showing up, listening, serving, and proving that AAP still stands for governance with a difference.

Second, the BJP’s strategy in Delhi has long included dismantling AAP from within. Kejriwal’s job now is to protect the core—to hold the party together at every level, from MLAs to booth workers.

Kejriwal must lead the charge in public outreach. The fear of failure or another electoral setback cannot dictate strategy. In politics, retreating out of caution only signals weakness. For a party born out of a movement, silence and withdrawal are the surest ways to lose relevance.

Now is not the time for caution. It is the time for Kejriwal to get back to the trenches. Because the longer he stays away, the faster AAP fades from the very ground it once shook.

(The author, a columnist and research scholar, teaches journalism at St. Xavier’s College (autonomous), Kolkata. His handle on X is @sayantan_gh. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)