India, Feb. 9 -- Five years is a long time. In politics, it is an eternity.

Five years ago, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) walked a deft line between the Left wing and the Right wing, careful not to be drawn into any discussion involving ideology and ducking any query about the party's core beliefs. Rally after rally began with party chief Arvind Kejriwal's chant, "Bharat Mata ki Jai, Inquilab Zindabad, Vande Mataram", that attempted to showcase the AAP as an ideology neutral party focussed on governance.

There are many parties in India that practise transactional politics over ideological. But none, before the AAP, elevated it to a badge of identity. The party used it as a weapon to repel attacks from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when a...