Dissident AAP leader Yogendra Yadav has hinted that he may float a new political outfit along with fellow rebel Prashant Bhushan as he virtually ruled out quitting politics and also sought the public’s views as to what should be the ideology of an alternative formulation. Appearing to rule out taking legal recourse against their removal from top AAP bodies, Yadav, in an essay entitled, Direction to a new politicsIJ, wondered whether the anti-corruption movement, which gave ‘birth to AAP’, should be an agent of alternative politics or be reduced to an ordinary political alternative.
Attacking the leadership of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, Yadav said that neither he nor Bhushan wanted the people to accuse them of being mute spectators to the “moral downfall” of the movement. “The dilemma confronting us was preserving unity on the one hand and preserving the soul of the movement. We were torn between not partaking in the sin being committed on the one hand and not destroying the hopes of party workers all over the country,” Yadav wrote.
Seeking to examine the merits and demerits of the options before them, Yadav said that quitting politics would “weaken democracy” while trying to bring changes within the AAP was not possible as any difference of opinion was termed a “revolt” by the party. Floating the idea of a new outfit, Yadav sought the public’s views by raising a series of questions on the viability of such a move, which he said would be in accordance with the tenets of the ‘Swaraj’ movement.
“The question is, how would that politics beIJ What would be its ideological outlookIJ How to keep at bay the greed of instant successIJ Can success be achieved without compromising with one’s moral idealsIJ And, will public associate themselves with this new initiativeIJ” he asked. Yadav said these questions had been occupying their minds for a long time as the “digressions” of the party from its foundational principles became apparent. “(A) few have already left raising these issues,” he wrote. Referring to his recent removal as the chief spokesperson of the AAP and, before that, from the party’s Political Affairs Committee and its National Executive, Yadav said that these developments have served to put these questions before the public.
“There is no doubt that whatever happened at the National Executive meet on March 28 goes against the constitution and democracy of the party, but should this matter be dragged in courts for years like property disputesIJ People are the biggest court in democratic politics,” he said. “Those who have vowed to bright changes throughout the country will remain a regional party in DelhiIJ Will the journey undertaken with the mantra of swaraj be limited to one individualIJ” he asked.