The fallout in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership, just over a month of its astounding victory in Delhi Assembly elections, have thrown a fresh light on the evolution of the fledgling party and more so on its supremo Arvind Kejriwal. The Delhi Chief Minister — who has been at the centre of the recent slugfest with his former party compatriots over dissolution of “inner party democracy” – has fast transformed himself as “Kejriwal the politician,” who doesn’t hesitate to indulge in ‘politics of power.’With the founding members of the AAP, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan – who were pitted against Kejriwal over the growing “personality cult” within the party – unceremoniously evicted out of the party, Kejriwal has emboldened himself after the Delhi poll results as someone not averse to taking out those contentious to his position. Subtle may be his way, but he has been successful to have people close to him on important positions in the party and government, and smart enough not to directly annoy those contesting his position.Credited with stopping the Narendra Modi Juggernaut, the anti-corruption crusader now seemingly enjoys the luxury to assert his ‘My way or the highway’ style, which has been an integral part of his content. Even as Kejriwal started ‘rebranding’ himself as the country’s aam aadmi taking on a corrupt political system and its elite ruling class, soon after the AAP faced a humiliating defeat in the last year’s Parliamentary elections. The 46-year-old leader now evokes similar sentiment of turning AAP into a personality oriented party, one it advocated against all along since its inception.There are now clear indications that the ‘mufflerman’ is transforming AAP in to a personality-driven, centralized organization — not essentially open, consultative or participatory.Political analyst Praful Bidwai, in his blog, opines that Kejriwal had a chance to act as a “moderator” and reach some kind of reconciliation to maintain AAP’s unity. “But he absented himself from the meeting and got his super-loyalist deputy Manish Sisodia to play the proxy to move the proposal for sacking Mr. Yadav and Bhushan from the PAC—apparently after some last-minute manipulation and number-rigging. He prevailed because of the numerical strength of his loyalists.”Political Analyst Sanjay Kumar said the party was an idea that brought “newness” to the Indian polity, and was seen as a serious political alternative to conventional parties. “But, the way Kejriwal behaved during the controversy reflected that he was pre-determined to oust the dissenting leaders out of the AAP.”The AAP, which had come up with an undefined internal democratic structure, has now seemingly regressed into a party that now resembles other conventional political parties, with power politics and personality cult ruling the roost.
The fallout in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership, just over a month of its astounding victory in Delhi Assembly elections, have thrown a fresh light on the evolution of the fledgling party and more so on its supremo Arvind Kejriwal. The Delhi Chief Minister — who has been at the centre of the recent slugfest with his former party compatriots over dissolution of “inner party democracy” – has fast transformed himself as “Kejriwal the politician,” who doesn’t hesitate to indulge in ‘politics of power.’With the founding members of the AAP, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan – who were pitted against Kejriwal over the growing “personality cult” within the party – unceremoniously evicted out of the party, Kejriwal has emboldened himself after the Delhi poll results as someone not averse to taking out those contentious to his position. Subtle may be his way, but he has been successful to have people close to him on important positions in the party and government, and smart enough not to directly annoy those contesting his position.Credited with stopping the Narendra Modi Juggernaut, the anti-corruption crusader now seemingly enjoys the luxury to assert his ‘My way or the highway’ style, which has been an integral part of his content. Even as Kejriwal started ‘rebranding’ himself as the country’s aam aadmi taking on a corrupt political system and its elite ruling class, soon after the AAP faced a humiliating defeat in the last year’s Parliamentary elections. The 46-year-old leader now evokes similar sentiment of turning AAP into a personality oriented party, one it advocated against all along since its inception.There are now clear indications that the ‘mufflerman’ is transforming AAP in to a personality-driven, centralized organization — not essentially open, consultative or participatory.Political analyst Praful Bidwai, in his blog, opines that Kejriwal had a chance to act as a “moderator” and reach some kind of reconciliation to maintain AAP’s unity. “But he absented himself from the meeting and got his super-loyalist deputy Manish Sisodia to play the proxy to move the proposal for sacking Mr. Yadav and Bhushan from the PAC—apparently after some last-minute manipulation and number-rigging. He prevailed because of the numerical strength of his loyalists.”Political Analyst Sanjay Kumar said the party was an idea that brought “newness” to the Indian polity, and was seen as a serious political alternative to conventional parties. “But, the way Kejriwal behaved during the controversy reflected that he was pre-determined to oust the dissenting leaders out of the AAP.”The AAP, which had come up with an undefined internal democratic structure, has now seemingly regressed into a party that now resembles other conventional political parties, with power politics and personality cult ruling the roost.
