The other side of AAP

Aam Aadmi Party was born with a pledged commitment towards democracy and transparency. Its core ideology revolves around curbing corruption and establishing ‘Swaraj’. Since its formation, AAP proclaimed to be the only party which used to involve people’s consent in decision making. It always enjoys the support of intellectual class of the country. People have seen it as a hope; they put their all faith in it and served it wholeheartedly. Sadly, today the case is not same.  If the recent developments are any indication, the party, which was perceived to be different and cashed it in this perception, now seems to be no different from its counterparts.

From last one month, there was a tussle going on among the senior leaders of party. On one side Arvind Kejriwal, party’s national convener with his coterie accusing others of anti-party activities while on the other side Yogender Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, two of AAP’s very senior and respect leaders questioning the autocracy of Arvind Kejriwal. Yesterday the fight turned ugly when four of party founder members including Yadav and Bhushan thrown of national executive of the party.

What comes out till now shows that Arvind Kejriwal seriously lacks the leadership skills. His autocratic style of functioning could work in an ‘Andolan’ but can’t work in a political party. Today, he is the Chief Minister of Delhi and enjoys support of majority of volunteers but that is not enough for him. If we go by the trend of social media then many of the volunteers and well wishers of AAP are angry with the way Arvind has handled this matter. Many of them are standing behind Yadav and Bhushan. Even few of the Delhi MLAs and one MP from Punjab are openly backing Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. This clearly indicates, party is on the verge to getting divided.

One thing which is easily predictable, that Arvind Kejriwal thinks he can work well in Delhi and gain his lost ground. It is true that people have a weak memory and party infighting is not an issue directly related with them. But here things are different. What happens in last few days has just shattered the credibility of Arvind Kejriwal as a leader. Today’s politics is all about perception and now, AAP seems to be similar to all the parties which were accused by them for autocracy and lack of internal democracy.  

By going in details of the problems AAP is facing, it is clear that Yadav-Bhushan camp wants to keep principles on the upper side rather than winning elections and on the other side, Kejriwal thinks politics is all about winning election. For any other party, Kejriwal’s view seems to be right but that is not the case here with AAP. This party was never formed to become another ‘election machine’ infact it came into existence to change the rules of politics and make it clean and transparent.

Arvind Kejriwal has to understand that AAP has just won Delhi for now and there is a long way to go if he really wishes to see a corruption free well developed India. He has signaled in his very first speech after becoming CM that he wants to focus on Delhi for now and turn it into a model state. Theoretically, it seems to be the easiest way to grow big instantly but after a time period. But in a diverse county like India, winning elections on the basis of work done in some other state is not an easy task. This is the time when Arvind Kejriwal should start building leaders in other states too and act like a leader, who is even ready to work with people having distant point of view.

It would have been much better if Kejriwal camp could have answer the questions raised  by Yadav and Bhushan before kicking them out from the top decision making body of party. No doubt, their questions have enough weight and if not rectified quickly, then in coming time AAP has to suffer because of that.