The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was born out of a difference of opinion between anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. The duo found a variation in their thoughts and opinions and mutually agreed to work separately.
Let’s briefly take a peek at history: the key personalities Arvind Kejriwal, Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Baba Ramdev and many were listed in a 24 core member committee, which commenced a movement called India against Corruption (IAC), a non formal organization. It’s investigative campaigns, protests; dharnas sparked the fire of patriotism among people across the nation. Eventually, people realized that the time had come to raise their voices as well as extricate the country from corruption, scams, and scandals.
But, IAC, couldn’t last long owing to the lack of collaboration and several differences within its team. Hazare was not in favour of forming or supporting any political party. On the contrary Kejriwal was keen to establish a political party saying “Politics is dirty, but to clear the filth, one has to enter into the filth”.
On October 2, 2012, Kejriwal announced the formation of a political party, and, launched it on November 26, 2012, the date on which India had adopted its constitution in 1956. While launching the party he dedicated it to the common man and named it the ‘Aam Aadmi Party’.
From the day, the party commenced functioning, Kejriwal and his team went into the streets of Delhi to hear people’s woes; by doing this, he successfully won the trust and confidence of the Delhites as well as people across the nation.
Merely, in the span of one year, Kejriwal became the cynosure of the media fraternity and drew eyeballs across the nation. The media coverage was the cherry on the cake for Kejriwal.
The wind which was blowing the way of Kejriwal, helped the AAP to win as many as 28 seats in the Delhi Assembly and Kejriwal displaced Sheila Dixit, a three time CM of Delhi as the chief minister.
Then, the actual delusion began – when he took oath as the chief minister of Delhi on December 28, 2013. Can’t say what it was that made eminent people to quit their lucrative jobs and to join AAP. A few of them are: Captain G.R Gopinath; Adarsh Shastri, grandson of Lal Bahadur Shastri, who quit Rs one crore job at Apple; Meera Sanyal, quit her job as the chairperson of the Royal Bank of Scotland; V BalaKrishnan, quit as CFO at Infosys; well-known journalist Ashutosh, quit as an editor of IBN 7.
On February 14, 2013, Kejriwal resigned as the Delhi CM, ostensibly, owing to the failure to present the Jan Lokpal bill. It was the day when his big promises, plans and words came to nothing and the hopes of the people were crushed.
Ultimately, he was unlike other political leaders, and didn’t realize that ‘drops of water make a mighty ocean’. Supposedly, he started dreaming of becoming the next PM of India, an apparition that disappeared amid the velocity of the Modi wave.
The Lok Sabha polls came on the heels and AAP’s shine was fading away, and we saw strange occurrences against the party, such as cheap publicity stunts, eg. An auto rickshaw driver slapping Kejriwal, throwing of shoes at rallies; party members being shamed with black ink on their face, people removing AAP members’ cap publicly etc.
It was not clear if such things were happening as publicity stunts or to attract people so as to get sympathy for the party or a way of self contradiction?
Kejriwals’ team had a major setback in the recent general elections. The vital drawbacks that the AAP party faced were the lack of management and planning: in terms of rallies, oratory, presentation etc. Without realizing and strengthening the capabilities and potential of the party, Kejriwal jumped in to fight the Lok Sabha polls.
His over ambition and over confidence lead him down the path of defeat. He did not realize that he was the new kid on the block and contesting against a vastly experienced, successful and charismatic politician, when he filed his nomination for the Varanasi seat.
Kejriwal’s unplanned steps tarnished the positive image of the AAP and left many of the eminent persons who had joined it, disillusioned. Captain Gopinath, Shazia Ilmi, Yogendra Yadav, and Naveen Jaihind resigned from the party. Later, amid reports of a rift within the party, the AAP rejected the resignations submitted by both Yadav and Jaihind.
However, the party requested the duo to withdraw their resignations and reportedly both agreed. On May 31, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav had submitted his resignation and resigned from the party’s membership.
All is not lost however. AAP is still in discovery mode and will need a makeover in its management and plans if it is to win back the confidence of the Aam Aadmi. It is likely that Delhi will go to elections again shortly, with no party willing to support another in the current assembly. AAP will have a chance to reinvent itself, and go back to the people that gave them their first chance at governance.
