The recent turmoil within Aam Aadmi party (AAP) should be an eye opener to those who want to achieve success overnight. Finding that corruption is an issue which could take them to the seat of power, Arvind Kejriwal & Co left no stone unturned to make the people believe that it is the only party in the country which will remove the menace from its root. But the party did not realise that getting rid of corruption was not an easy job. It will take years for people with impeccable integrity to win this crusade. But in a hurry to grab power, AAP continued to induct all sorts of people, without verifying their credentials. Yes, their induction benefitted the party. Within two years of forming a political party, AAP recorded a stunning victory in Delhi Assembly polls. The party won 67 out of 70 seats. The phenomenal achievement made AAP to believe that it is invincible. So, there is no need of strengthening the organisation or showing doors to those who don’t have clean images.
Besides, personal ambitions of Arvind Kejriwal virtually made AAP a ‘one man army.’ Ever since winning in Delhi Assembly election handsomely, Mr. Kejriwal didn’t miss a single opportunity to project himself as the prime ministerial candidate against Narendra Modi in 2019. Thus to garner support of the opposition parties, he had to hug Lalu Prasad Yadav, already convicted in multi-crore fodder scam, in full public view. Clearly, hobnobbing between a crusader against corruption and a tainted politician didn’t go down well with the people. People started questioning the ‘intensions’ of the AAP national convenor. Mr. Kejriwal ignored those questions and continued his quest for the most coveted seat of power in the country.
But Mr Kejriwal’s tryst with Punjab or Goa did not yield desired results. Moreover, Kejriwal’s dictatorial approach by then had distanced many of his colleagues. Prominent among them were Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav. These founder members of the party snapped their association with Mr. Kejriwal, alleging corruption, nepotism and high handedness. Some other disgruntled AAP leaders, who did not have the courage to take on Mr. Kejriwal, decided to wait for the right opportunity. Couple of them started working against the party. One of them was Kapil Mishra. He ensured party candidate’s defeat in Rajouri Garden bye election. The loss was followed by another defeat in the municipal corporation elections in Delhi. After this defeat, all hell broke loose. All of a sudden Mr. Kejriwal’s leadership came under severe challenge from his own party men. Mr. Kejriwal should thank BJP as the saffron brigade took a mature decision not to fish in troubled water. As a result, the rebel AAP leaders had to prematurely end their rebellion. But the AAP supremo wrongly interpreted the retreat by rebel leaders as his victory and sacked Kapil Mishra from his cabinet.
After falling from the grace, Mr. Mishra adopted the same methodology, which his party boss adopted few years ago. This time from Jantar Mantar, he has started fight against corruption, virtually closing all means for Mr. Kejriwal to regain the trust of the people. It has created a situation where the crusader will have fight to clear his name from corruption charges. Surely, it is end of the road for Mr. Kejriwal & Co.
