The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seems to be imploding with its prominent founder members’ resignations, and Arvind Kejriwal’s agitational politics failing to stir the party cadre.
AAP’s candidate from Ghaziabad, Shazia Ilmi, and founder member, Captain G R Gopinath, quit the party on Saturday. Ilmi alleged that there is no democracy in the party.
Lack of inner democracy“I am quitting due to the lack of inner democracy in a party that continuously talks about
Captain Gopinath, the founder of Air Deccan and a pioneer in low-cost air travel in India, felt disillusioned and disappointed with “their tactics, continuing tantrums and agitational ways.”
He felt Kejriwal’s decision to refuse bail and languish in Tihar Jail in the defamation case filed against him by former BJP president Nitin Gadkari was politically unsound.
No regard for law“It does not behove the leader of a national party, to disregard the law of the land and take to agitation at the drop of a hat. I’m not defending Nitin Gadkari. Kejriwal accused him of corruption and now if the court summons him, he should defend himself in court and prove his charges. Or else there will be mayhem and chaos in society,” Gopinath wrote in a column. “Besides, it may not be politically prudent to defy the court. He should not confuse the court with the BJP. The government is not arresting him for leading an agitation against corruption. This is an individual court case between Gadkari and Kejriwal. He must fight it legally. There may be other such cases that he may have to encounter in the future as he has accused others of similar charges,” he added.
Gopinath may be echoing the voice of many in the party. According to a number of AAP volunteers and leaders that Business Line spoke to, it was prudent to watch the political situation rather than plunging headlong into prison as Kejriwal has done.
Another distinct cause of unease among many AAP workers is that in Narendra Modi, they do see a genuine hope for India’s future.
“I think Modi will be a better administrator than Manmohan Singh. I am still with AAP, but I think Modi has been able to convince most people that he can govern India with a difference,” said an AAP leader who did not wish to be named.
According to Ashwant Gupta, the party’s convenor in Haryana, there is a lot of scope for the Aam Aadmi Party to practice its politics which is the only alternative to the “systemic corruption and hopelessness” that still prevails.
“Just look at the number of criminals and crorepatis who have won in this election. Modi is only promising a palliative. We are the ones with a cure for the tumour of corruption that plagues this country,” said Gupta.