From breaking down to being cautious so as not to be termed as an “AAP rebel”, the Swaraj Samvad organised by dissident AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan came as a “new beginning” for irate supporters.
The meeting of disgruntled AAP volunteers ended in the duo coming up with a resolution wherein they decided against quitting the AAP, but to form a non-political group “Swaraj Abhiyaan”, which would take up key issues of the country while also bringing democracy within the fledgling party. With this, the formation of a new party is not likely to happen anytime soon for the rebel group as it concluded from the mood of the participants in the convention that the struggle for “swaraj” shall continue within the party.
The meeting held in Gurgaon was distinctly different from the usual meets of the AAP as there was no sign of white flags with a broom painted on it or the face of its convener Arvind Kejriwal.
The daylong event saw speeches, group discussions, written suggestions and voting on some key issues related to the party. A staggering 70 per cent of the hundreds of participants of the convention opined that the expelled National Executive members Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Professor Anand Kumar, and Ajit Jha, along with their supporters, should remain in the party and fight for democracy within the AAP. A staggering 93 per cent people present there also believed the AAP is not following its core agenda of “swaraj”.
The dialogue which was aimed to discuss the future course of action after Bhushan and Yadav’s expulsion from AAP’s National Executive began at 10 in the morning and continued till 6 in the evening. At the end, a resolution was passed in which the group announced to begin “Swaraj Abhiyaan” to strengthen and democratise the concept of “alternate politics” which emerged with the emergence of the AAP.
“The type of politics the AAP is resorting to has somewhat become limited only to a particular region or metropolis whereas the aim was to turn it into a nationwide movement to take up key issues affecting citizens. The political movement has turned into an election machine where the volunteers are treated as mere parts of that machine. We need to rise from such a path and hence a nationwide Swaraj Abhiyaan will be launched hereon,” reads the resolution. The movement aims at identifying and mobilising volunteers for the same and taking it to block level while strategising to create a future map for the country.
Speaking to the gathering, AAP’s founder-member Prashant Bhushan said, “We promised that we will be the first party that will come within RTI purview. It’s been two years we can’t even see the party decisions on party’s website, what kind of transparency is thisIJ We demanded that party lokpal should be appointed in each State with final decisions taken by national lokpal, but party leadership denied it. Now party members who organised this ‘Swaraj Samwad’ meet are said to have been removed from the political organisation. It is important to introspect and so I believe if today we announce forming a new political party, then dangers will be the same which AAP is facing.”
While Anand Kumar broke down while addressing the audience and alleging that Kejriwal betrayed his hopes, Yogendra Yadav maintained his calm and yet fiercely said, “Through AAP we had dreamed of swaraj, but now it has become a one-man raj. Not even Jayalalithaa has her face on her party’s flag. It is the need of the hour to recollect and become a national force and not a regional party.”
At the convention, prominent personalities who had recently resigned from the party like Aruna Roy and Medha Patkar were conspicuously absent. However, other than the four leaders, Timarpur MlA Pankaj Pushkar and several lok Sabha candidates from various States were present in the meet. It is pertinent to note that most of the participant came from outside Delhi.
Meanwhile, the AAP maintained that it was an anti-party activity. The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the party is likely to meet on Wednesday to decide the fate of the rebel group. In all likelihood they shall be removed from the core membership of the party.