(Priya James is a seasoned AAP volunteer living in the USA. She scripted, made and edited 200+ videos for its official and unofficial web pages.)
Expert after expert claimed that leaving the Chief Minister's office after 49 days was Arvind Kejriwal's biggest mistake. In hindsight, this turned out to be a brilliant move. Many experts claimed that fighting Lok Sabha elections was a major blunder too. In the short term, maybe, yes, but it was, in fact, a master-stroke in the long term. Today, AAP has supporters and offices in every nook and corner of India, second only to traditional national parties; an impossible task for a newcomer. So those two moves were not really mistakes.
However, Arvind Kejriwal (AK) is about to make his biggest blunder. Kejriwal's deafening silence on the current fiasco on expelling Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, has already cost him a lot. AAP's real strength is not Kejriwal, Bhushan, or Yadav, but the millions of passionate volunteers who support the party pro-bono 24/7 across India and the globe. A significant majority of them joined AAP because they connected with the idea of clean politics, transparency in Indian politics and Swaraj. It was a dream come true.
Expelling Bhushan and Yadav from the Political Action Committee has dimmed that dream already. Like Kejriwal, Bhushan has an impeccable record. When it comes to ethics and justice, I don't think even Kejriwal can beat Bhushan. There is an allegation that Bhushan wanted AAP to lose the Delhi election. Let's assume that this is true and ask the question, why? The devil lies in the details; did Bhushan feel AAP was compromising its ethics and promise of clean politics? Bhushan's and Yadav's letters further show the commitment of these leaders to instill Swaraj, transparency and accountability within the party. The exact ideas which Kejriwal talked about through his Delhi campaign, the issues for which most volunteers toiled day and night.
Expelling these two leaders for questioning or challenging the ethics within the party places Kejriwal naturally on the wrong side. And seriously, Kejriwal cannot afford to be on the wrong side. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the liberty enjoyed by Narendra Modi. Modi bhakts were fascinated by the persona of Modi but ''AAPtards'' as we are called are more fascinated by the IDEA of AAP than the person who voiced it.
Of course there will always be a set of fan-boys, loyalists or opportunists around any tall leader. Likewise, I am sure Kejriwal will also have a set around him as well (soon they may want to make him wear an AK-imprint suit as well) but he will lose the large majority of passionate volunteers across India and the globe if he doesn't act.
Lack of internal democracy within AAP was a secret only we the volunteers knew. Thanks to this fiasco, it has now become public. Let's face it - as of now, AAP is a one -man party. Kejriwal makes all the final decisions. So he alone can decide on the future direction as well. If Kejriwal fails to take concrete steps towards
Swaraj and accountability within the party, then these ideas would become a joke. (I can already see Ravi Shankar Prasad chuckling). If he cannot implement these values within the party, how will he implement it in a diverse city like Delhi? This would also be the beginning of AAP's decay. We just saw how a few impulsive and immature power centers mishandled this fiasco by abusing their power and splitting the party in the name of saving it from dirty hands.
The most recent allegation (if true) that Kejriwal himself was involved in negotiations with Congress MLAs to form the government shows that he is not infallible. Even though there is nothing wrong in such a move in current political times, just the fact that AAP was founded with "high moral grounds" make this act unethical. The "high moral ground" is the only unique selling point (USP) that AAP has, differentiating it from the rest of the parties. Today, AAP is an organization with millions of volunteers and hundreds of officials. It is common sense that it cannot hold on to its "high moral ground" stand without proper processes and transparency in place. If AAP want to maintain its image, then instilling transparency within the party is as important as its governance of Delhi. Or else in five years the party will disintegrate.
There is a huge uproar among the volunteers to put things straight within AAP. Kejriwal cannot afford NOT to listen to the voice of these volunteers because until a few weeks back, he was screaming at politicians who closed their ears to volunteers and voters.
Volunteers who worked day and night are determined to voice their disappointment. I don't think they will let anyone take their patronage for granted this time. As dedicated voices, they have evolved innovative methods to voice their concerns as evidenced below:
- http://unitedaap.org -- an independent group of AAP supporters and donors who mobilized over 10 million rupees for the party is evaluating the mood of supporters and sympathizers. Over 85.6 per cent think the NE (National Executive) did not handle the issue well and 92.4 per cent feel disappointed with the internal crisis in AAP.
- A Google Survey with 11000+ participants voicing their stand on the removal. Here more than 95 per cent say the ouster of Bhushan and Yadav was not justified, and more than 90 per cent think there is no internal democracy in AAP.
- A Change.org petition demanding evidence backing removal of the leaders signed by 5000 supporters
- A trending hashtag #unitedAAP
- An internal appeal to the party Lokpal demanding a probe into constitutional lapses
This is Kejriwal's last golden opportunity to forgo his personal issues with individuals, move aside interest groups, rise to the occasion, and straighten things out. Else he would see many of his volunteers pulling the rug from under his feet. Yes, he may not need us in the near future but slip-ups such as this will hurt - deeply and for long. Kejriwal, being a keen and clever politician who understands the pulse of the people, will not miss this beat. I don't think he is that foolish. But I sincerely hope he understands that AAP needs his political skill, Yadav's communication skill, Bhushan's strong sense of ethics, Meera Sanyal's economics, Medha Patkar's social justice. This diversity in thought is the check and balance of AAP's solutions and policies. And it is this diversity that makes AAP different and promising for a diverse country like India.
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