The Aam Aadmi Party seems to be in throes of an ideological and existential crisis
One of the top media taglines over the infighting in the Aam Aadmi Party has been: Will the expulsion of Messrs Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan hurt Mr Arvind Kejriwal, and to what extentIJ Most political analysts say that the damage to Mr Kejriwal will not be huge, though it will definitely hurt his public perception. They also opine that these embarrassments can be overcome if Mr Kejriwal fulfills his poll promises and provides good governance.
But the counter point is this: The internal feuds of the party have significantly weakened the Delhi Government's bargaining capacity vis-à-vis the Centre, so fulfilling promises and providing good governance will be a tough job. Most importantly, the internal party rift has exposed the AAP and made both the party and its leader much more vulnerable in the face of an arm-twisting Union Government. Mr Kejriwal knows it well. This is one of the reasons why he is exploring other options for political friendships — like Mr Nitish Kumar, who hopes to checkmate Mr Narendra Modi and the BJP in Bihar.
Another argument made by this ‘no real loss for Kejriwal’ theorists is that the AAP chief is a mass leader, while Mr Yadav and Mr Bhushan are intellectuals who lack significant popular presence. But the reality is different. Both leaders are capable of delivering heavy blows to Mr Kejriwal and his party.
AAP and the left-liberals:Mr Yadav’s and Mr Bhushan's real strength lies not just in their intellectual or professional background, but also in the class or constituency they represent. Both are prominent faces of the left-liberal intelligentsia and were instrumental in winning the support of this influential section in favour of the AAP when Mr Kejriwal was battling all sorts of allegations from his rivals. For instance, the accusation against Mr Kejriwal of being an ‘RSS agent’ was tactically countered by this constituency, and helped the AAP emerge as a contender in the Congress's secular and left-of-Centre space. The increasing influence of this group inside the party was noticed as the AAP's promises and rhetoric resembled the leftist line, and many started to view the party as the New left of Indian politics.
Purge of the left:But as the clash of personalities surfaced, the difference of ideologies between Mr Kejriwal and the duo got intertwined in the power struggle. The Kejriwal faction, which once proclaimed that ideologies are not important, attacked the Bhushan-Yadav faction, which, for example, demanded a referendum on Kashmir, as ‘ultra left’. In a way, the Kejriwal faction tried to play the nationalist card to discredit the duo.
And, as the slander campaign against the two rebels gathered steam, other leftist leaders of the party saw it as a design to purge the party of the left and change the direction of the AAP towards a right-of-Centre position. That's definitely one reason why all the left parivar leaders of the party, like Ms Medha Patkar, Mr Anand Kumar and Mr Dharamvir Gandhi have got into a huddle with Mr Bhushan and Mr Yadav.
Serious charges against Mr Kejriwal:There are allegations that his insistence of not expanding the party outside Delhi has to do with his behind -the-scenes understanding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. Some believe that Mr Kejriwal has conveyed to the BJP that the AAP is neither interested in expanding to newer areas immediately nor taking a confrontational approach towards the Union Government. In return, Mr Kejriwal expects massive Central support, mostly financial, to run a successful Government in Delhi and to fulfill his poll promises. It's a survival strategy by Mr Kejriwal. He knows well that he is doomed without Central assistance. According to exponents of this ‘deal theory', fixing the left within the AAP was then very much a priority.
AAP's expansion and the Hindi heartland:One of the factions (the left-leaning one) sees the new party and the enthusiasm for it as a means to expand its ideological-political base, particularly in the Hindi heartland where the left has remained a peripheral player. The so-called socialist parties dominating the scene in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are fast losing credibility among the new generation. And in other States, the BJP has emerged as the main force. So, this group of the AAP and the intellectual section backing it, see this is as a great opportunity to emerge as a potent force and the main ideological rival of the BJP in the Hindi heartland.
On the other hand, the Kejriwal faction wants to capture the Centrist space created by the weakening of the Congress in the country, particularly in the Hindi belt. A Centrist position gives the Delhi Chief Minister more space to manoeuvre. The faction also feels that mainstream India will not be comfortable with the leftist image of the AAP.