If indeed, the exit of the rebels helps Arvind Kejriwal to move away from the clutches of the anarchists and ultra-leftists to a more Centrist or even left of the Centre path, it is a development that deserves to be welcomed and celebrated by the nation's well-wishers
The convulsions within the Aam Aadmi Party were the talk of the town in the recent weeks. The party, which projected itself as democratic, transparent and an alternative to the corrupt contemporary politics, stood exposed before the very people who reposed blind faith in it just a couple of months back. The new paragon of virtue in Indian politics stood out as no different from the scheming, conspiring, backbiting, undemocratic, double-tongued leadership that the people have come to vehemently hate over the years. As for the other leaders and party cadres, sycophancy of the worst kind was on display. Those who were hailed till the other day as founding fathers and pillars of strength, were not only hounded out in the most unceremonious manner but also abused and vilified ad nauseum.
The selective leaks, the slander, calumny, mudslinging and character assassination, the accusations, the planting of stories, the intrigues and conspiracies which are predictable scripts of Bollywood political potboilers, were put to shame as various factions engaged in a do-or-die battle. At stake was personal ego, overriding ambition, hunger for power. But who cares for politics of principlesIJ Who bothers about the mandate of the people, their dreams, aspirationsIJ Who is concerned about the party, the vision, the missionIJ
Indeed ironic was the situation where Mr Arvind Kejriwal’s partymen recorded him and exposed him, a technique he taught the people of Delhi to use against the corrupt. leaders of the party, who lambasted the dynastic politics of the Congress all through, suddenly reveal that the entire Bhushan family used to formulate key policies and prepare important documents. The anarchists who waged a war against communalists were found to be stoking the sectarian fire by raising the spectre of BJP to woo minority votes. The purists who would take potshots at the political class for their immoral acts were shown to be promiscuous themselves. The harbingers of real freedom and democracy turned out to be tinpot despots and dictators.
Don’t mix organisation and Government, asserted the young loyalist Raghav Chadha, who would viciously attack the Modi Government every time some BJP leader would utter something that was politically incorrect. Mr Chadha should know that the people of Delhi just did not vote for free wi-fi, reduced water bills and subsidised power. More than all that, they saw in the AAP, an alternative political model which apparently looked far more genuine than the existing outfits. Fed-up and frustrated with corruption and political double speak, they gave an opportunity to those who promised not just freebies but an honest and truly democratic administration, inclusive development and above all, a real commitment to serve the common man, to wipe his or her tears to the extent possible, to bring a smile to their faces in these harsh times.
True, the mandate was for Mr Kejriwal, the man who symbolised popular resentment against prevailing corruption, the crusader who epitomised simplicity, honesty and integrity, the street-fighter who cared to hoot for the spoils of office. Yet, the truth is also that Mr Kejriwal was no more than just a person. He was a package in whose creation, Mr Prashant Bhushan, Mr Yogendra Yadav, Mr Anand Kumar, Ms Medha Patkar, Ms Kiran Bedi, Ms Shazia Ilmi and also Anna Hazare played a decisive role.
But for Mr Hazare, Mr Kejriwal would have been just another Right to Information activist and Magsaysay Award winner. For the Bhushans, he would have never got the fodder to emerge as an anti-graft leader. For Mr Yadav, he would not have acquired the political acumen and strategy that the psephologist formulated, and for the likes of Mr Kumar, he would not have gained the acceptability and respectability of many academicians and the intellectual class, who has hitherto remained left oriented.
Yet, is there more to it than meets the eyeIJ Can appearances be deceptiveIJ Is it just a personality clash between Mr Kejriwal on one side and Mr Bhushan and Mr Yadav on the otherIJ Is it just that Mr Yadav wanted to be the national convener of the partyIJ Wasn’t Mr Kejriwal’s dictatorial style since his early days known to the senior leaders who now slam him as undemocraticIJ Why were the Yadavs and Bhushans not only silent but also defensive when the BJP exposed the scams involved in the party funding in the run up to the Delhi electionsIJ Questions galore.
What is neither apparent nor being debated is the ideological war within the AAP. Having achieved his ambition of becoming the Chief Minister of Delhi with a comfortable majority, Mr Kejriwal is no more the rebellious politician he used to be. He no more detests the paraphernalia associated with a Chief Minister, including an official bungalow, police escort and a decent car. The metro rides, the climbing of electricity poles and the sit-ins or dharnas have become passé. He is in a much more sobered down avatar. He is now a politician in the conventional mould, of course in moderation. He is no more the rabble-rouser, the leader of the mob in Delhi’s streets. He is no more the anarchist, the ultra-leftist Bhushans, the leftover socialist Yadavs and their backers probably wanted.
Mr Kejriwal was fast slipping out of their hands. He did not want to spread anarchy in the rest of the country and was concentrating on governance in Delhi. He did not want the supporters of nationhood for Kashmir to command and control the nascent party. He was not in favour of confrontation with either the Centre or the neighbouring State Governments. He was not inclined to pit the AAP on the forefront of the anti-BJP coalition. He did not want to join hands with the leftists and the secularists on the plank of communalism as desired by his estranged cousins. He was not willing to be the ‘democratic’ drum beater for the left-wing extremists waging a war against the state across the country.
Mr Kejriwal was breaking free even financially. He was perhaps no more keen to receive sustenance from questionable sources known to have funded anti-Government movements and religious groups across the globe. He was in the process of evolving his own funding mechanism even if it meant blinking the eye to set procedures and practices. That also perhaps explains the rebel duo’s continuing criticism of certain cheque payments.
Political parties without ideologies do not sustain in the long run. The AAP was a product of just an issue, corruption. But graft alone is not the issue confronting a nation of a billion plus population. While a movement against corruption or for women empowerment can have participation from people of different ideological hues and shades with slogans ranging from ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ to ‘Inquilab zindabad’, a political party, when it comes to power through the ballot and is accountable to varied sections of society, simply cannot afford to be free-thinkers. It cannot swing between the extremes of left and Right. It has to strike that delicate balance, pursue that ‘madhyam marg’ (middle path) that Gautama Buddha spoke of. Mr Kejriwal perhaps realised this much to the chagrin of some of his collegues, who then decided to take over the reins of powers of the party and confine him to the national capital. It is in this move that the shrewd Chief Minister outsmarted his comrades.
While political parties would continue to oppose one another in the electoral arena, if indeed the exit of the rebels helps Mr Kejriwal to move away from the clutches of the anarchists and ultra-leftists to a more Centrist or even left of the Centre path, it is a development that deserves to be welcomed and even celebrated by the nation’s well-wishers.
(The writer is Senior Fellow and Editor, Vivekananda International Foundation)