aap at a crossroads - the hindu

AAPatacrossroads

Withtheexpulsionfromitsranksof foundermembersYogendraYadavandPrashantBhushan,theAamAadmiPartywouldseemtohaveputanend,atleastfornow,toabitterinternalbattlethathastakenmuchoftheglossoffitshistoricvictoryintheDelhiAssemblyelectionsofFebruary2015.ThepartynowsaysitsfocuswouldbeonthegovernanceofDelhiwhileittakesadynamiccall with regard to contesting elections in other States. Thismay be a simple statement but itrevealsmuchaboutthenatureofthepartysambitions.Asignificantpartofitsinternalbattlemayhavebeenaclashofegosandpersonalities,butifoneweretoidentifyanideologicalthread,itisthis:Mr.YadavandMr.BhushanwantedtheAAPtoquicklyseizetheinitiativetobuildanationalpresence.Theyargued that inorder todo this theparty should formulateapositiononseveralmatters of national import. Mr. Kejriwal, on the other hand, wanted to focus his energies onriddingDelhiofcorruptionandensuringbetterdeliveryofservicestoitscitizenry.This,tohim,isa formofpolitics in itselfwhere ideologyhasnopart.Given theway the cardshave fallen, thefutureoftheAAPnowrestsonMr.KejriwalsperformanceasChiefMinisterofDelhi.

Itcannotbedenied,however,thatintheprocessofbeingengineeredtosuitMr.Kejriwalswishesthepartyhas lostmuch.Asan immediateexample, thinkofhowmuch itwouldhavebenefitedfromhavingMr.YadavorMr.Bhushanas itsspokespersonsarticulatingviewsto itsadvantageafterafarmercommittedsuicideatarallyorganisedbyitinNewDelhionApril22.Asitwas,itscurrent lead spokesperson Ashutosh had to publicly apologise after making some bizarre andinsensitive remarks. Further, theAAPhas lost its appeal as a party that could accommodate avarietyofopinionsandvoices. Internaldifferenceswithinpoliticalpartiesmaybenothingnew.Butwhenwasthelasttimeapoliticalpartyactuallyexpelleditsownseniormembersratherthanaccommodatethem?EvenuntilafewmonthsagosuchthingsmaynothavematteredtoitastheAAPseemedtobebuildingupitsimageastheonlypartythatcouldtakeontheBJP.However,itnow faces the prospect of the Congress, along with the Left parties and the Janata Parivar,buildingupstrengthandpresencewith theiragitationsagainst the landacquisitionbill.By thetime theAAP is able tomarket theKejriwalmodelof governance itmaywellhave lost a lot ofground.Inordertoavoidthatprospect,itneedstodevoteatleastapartofitsfocustoadiscourseonnationalissues.TheAAPthusstandsatacrossroadstoday.

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