Beset with problems, AAP is fast imploding
The Aam Aadmi Party is on a suicidal course. It is tormented by challenges from within, and the reasons for this range from the faulty distribution of tickets to the party's defective functioning. That these issues should arise in the backdrop of the looming lok Sabha election, should trouble the AAP's senior leadership. However, there is little indication that the party's decision-makers have applied themselves seriously to the task of cleaning the mess. On the contrary, they are busy directing even more repulsive slurs at their rivals, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party, whom they see as their principal opponent. But none of these tactics will work, and an indication of this is the continuing erosion in the AAP's image. The party has come a long way from having occupied the moral high ground in the days of its inception a little over a year ago and even recently when it assumed power in Delhi. There is a widespread sense of disillusionment among not just the aam aadmi supporters of the party but also among its senior leaders, some of whom have quit the organisation in disgust. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal cannot brush aside the revolt. Senior members of the party's national executive have resigned, while there are others who are seething with discontent and ready to move out. Yet, Mr Kejriwal and his band, apparently oblivious to the disturbing signals, are engaged in their old trick of street protests and anarchic behaviour in public wherever they go. We saw the drama in Gujarat during the AAP chief's recent visit to the State. More recently, the country witnessed, with shock and anger, the chaos that the party's workers created in Mumbai during Mr Kejriwal's presence there. Perhaps the AAP leader believes that these dramatic road shows will help divert public attention from the growing disquiet in the party. He is mistaken. People who have been associated with the party from the very beginning and even during its earlier avatar, have been reportedly cast aside in favour of newcomers who have been given tickets of their choice. The ignored candidates have raised their voice, and it appears that the discontent has spilled over in public as well.
What has made matters worse for the AAP is that even some candidates whose names had been finalised, have refused to contest, citing lack of support from local workers of the party. Ms Savita Bhatti, for instance, has refused to contest from Chandigarh on this ground. On the other hand, the high-profile Shazia Ilmi has categorically indicated her preference for a seat in Delhi and has rejected an offer to contest against Congress president Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareilly. Adding to Ms Ilmi's voice over favouritism is another prominent AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, who is pitted against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. Mr Kejriwal cannot run away from the fact that his party's disruptionist tactics and the leadership's dictatorial conduct have prepared the ground for more revolts.