By: Keyur Seta

Picture: Dnaindia.com

Despite the continuous crooked efforts by the enemies and a section of the media, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to win 67 out of the 70 seats in the Delhi Elections, which is an unthinkable feat. Hence, they became politically invincible. But when you are unbreakable, it only means you can’t be broken by an external force. No matter how strong you are, you can’t escape an internal collapse.

This, unfortunately, has come true for AAP. The party’s ugly internal war between Yogendra Yadav-Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal & Company has thrown the party off from the high moral ground it had created for itself. It has shown that AAP hasn’t taken time in becoming like any other political party, something it has always tried to prove otherwise.

It is always difficult to take sides in such tussles. But the events that led to this fight and Kejriwal’s reactions to it compel me to support Yadav and Bhushan. They might be blamed for making the fight public by going directly to the media. But the points raised by them are absolutely logical and give serious indications of the throwing away of principles by AAP High Command (Kejriwal).

I have explained myself through the following points:-

Click to read the leaked letter

Questionable Candidates: Yadav and Bhushan’s leaked emails show the list of people with dubious past record being included in AAP without any issue. They had even provided details of their past, which showed they indulged in hooliganism, communalism and some other criminal activities. Most of these people are ex-members of other parties.

Click to read the leaked letter

Click to read the leaked letter

I have checked the records of the people in the list (listed HERE) and I can say with certainty that Yadav and Bhushan’s concerns surely make sense. This obviously means that the party threw away its basic principles just to get people that can earn votes even if they have a criminal or dubious record. Haven’t Kejriwal and other prominent AAP members time and again criticized other parties for resorting to this very practice?

Sting Affair: Kejriwal’s sting operation where he is speaking of breaking Congress gave further indications. One can argue that he isn’t heard given money, ministerial posts or any kind of favors, which is true. But he is clearly urging his party member to break (todo) Congress’ tally of MLAs so that they can support AAP in forming the government in Delhi.

Plus, Kumar Vishwas’ cunningly reacted to the issue on a news debate. He defended AK saying he isn’t horse-trading but at the same time he maintained that he doesn’t consider the tape to be genuine. So, what exactly is your stand? Later AAP issued a statement that it was ‘political realignment’. But you don’t need to be an expert in politics to understand that such talks about breaking a party’s MLAs can never be termed as ‘realignment’.

Listen to the sting conversation:

AK’s ‘Under the Carpet’ Response: Kejriwal’s response and reaction to the whole issue made it very clear that AAP is just like any other party as far as internal democracy is concerned. Initially, he Tweeted that he doesn’t want to get involved. This was just a drama to show how clean he is despite the fact that the issue concerns him the most. After he returned from his Vipassana treatment, he released a video message on YouTube regarding the issue.

Considering him to be a man of integrity and principles, his supporters felt he will honestly speak his heart out. However, the only thing he said in the video was that ‘some people’ are trying to break the party! That’s it! Isn’t this the response of a typical double-faced politician who buries the issue under the carpet while doing a fake show of ‘All Is Well’? Doesn’t this make him one of those against whom he has waged a war?

See his message:

So-Called NC Meeting: If this wasn’t enough, the video recording of the National Council Meeting some days back became the final nail in the coffin. Kejriwal tried playing a victim by blaming Yadav and Bhushan for all. He didn’t allow the duo and their supporters inside. He saved his best (read: worst) drama for the end where he emotionally blackmailed everyone in choosing either him or ‘them’. This made the meeting into a scripted shoddy reality show. The video is also a smartly edited version.

Watch it yourself below:-

So, the question that is lurking in everyone’s minds is what will happen to AAP now? I also ask myself whether I will continue to be an AAP sympathizer. No, I won’t. Will I vote for them? Yes, I will (provided Yogendra Yadav doesn’t form his own party). But this has only to do with the fact that the other big political parties have become highly criminalized, so I am left with no other option. In front of their terrible misdeeds, AAP’s issue is negligible. The party’s performance in Delhi has so far been satisfactory, so it might be saved from completely falling apart.

But considering the ghastly events mentioned above, did we support the party for it being the lesser evil or for the honest and clean politics it always advocated?

Did people support AAP for bringing in new brand of politics or for playing politics differently?

Latest Update: Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan have been sacked/removed/expelled from AAP. I guess the only option Yadav and Bhushan have is that they start their own new political party.