The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) rebel camp of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, who were ousted from the party’s two top panels last month, are leaving no stone unturned to make their Swaraj Samvad a success. While political pundits claim the much talked about convention to be a deciding factor in the fate of the fledgling party, it is also turning out to be a matter of political survival for the rebel duo and their supporters.
As the AAP is closely watching the moves and eventualities of its dissidents and, in all likelihood, after the Swaraj Samvad, Yadav, Bhushan, Anand Kumar, among other dissidents, will be ousted from the party. On the other hand, the response received in the convention will be a deciding factor for the future course of action for the founding members-turned-rebels of the AAP. While both Yadav and Bhushan are tightlipped on the formation of a new party, which is one possibility, the option of just taking up issues like the land Bill and creating a movement for it is also possible.
In order to make the convention, scheduled on BR Ambedkar’s birthday, a success the two have been holding meetings across Delhi and even in other States to gather large crowds. On Monday, Yadav held a meeting at Jangpura where they set the agenda for the convention. Yadav along with Anand Kumar have also been interacting with people via Google Hangouts.
“The Swaraj Samvad has been organised by a group of 48 founder members of AAP, including the National Council. It will be an opportunity for interactive dialogue among AAP active volunteers. It was expected that around 1,000 AAP persons will join it. But there are already more than 4,000 AAP activists from 29 States, with largest numbers from Delhi, who have registered for it,” said an enthusiastic Professor Anand Kumar.
He further said, “The whole event seemed like a Satyagraha about the need of making AAP an instrument for making not only Delhi but all of India corruption-free.” The meeting will be held from 9 am at Shubh Vatika near Atul Kataria Chowk in Gurgaon.
Several AAP volunteers from other States are expected to participate in the event. AAP’s Timarpur MlA Pankaj Pushkar, former AAP leader and social activist Medha Patkar, tribal activist Soni Sori and rights activist Aruna Roy are expected among the attendees. The rebel camp has also said that over 100 candidates who had contested on AAP ticket in the lok Sabha polls will attend the event.