AAP's silent majority rings alarm bells

NEW DELHI: The silent majority in AAP is watching in dismay the tussle between senior party leaders and dreading the fallout. Many party workers and MLAs are in a fix. Most of them told TOI that Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, and Yogendra Yadav should sort out their differences internally to focus on fulfilling the promises made to Delhi’s electorate.
Contrary to the belief in some quarters that Bhushan and Yadav will get isolated, most members said though Kejriwal was the face of the party, Bhushan and Yadav had contributed equally.“Arvind must sort out the differences internally,” said a senior member.
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There are reports the embattled duo, that has openly questioned Kejriwal’s leadership and candidate selection in the run-up to the Delhi elections, may be ousted from the party’s political affairs committee in Wednesday’s meeting.

In fact, members warned against such a course of action, saying it would lead AAP towards self-destruction. “Winnability became the only criteria for Kejriwal when it came to candidate selection for Delhi elections. His success, however, should not make him continue with the same policy since it would compromise the reason for which the party was built,” said another senior member.

Adarsh Shastri, party MLA from Dwarka, sought to play down the bickerings, saying that certain internal differences related to the party’s expansion plans were being “exaggerated” and the dominant view was to focus on Delhi and to build it as a model of governance. “We believe that if we don’t work in Delhi, we won’t be able to strengthen the party in other states. Time demands that the party works under the leadership of Kejriwal and broadens its base based on that,” he said.
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JNU professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy, an AAP member, added: “The sparring between senior members of the party is the last thing we needed at this time. There is immense expectation among people about our fulfilling the promises made and we must strive to do the same.”

He said issues such as whether AAP should spread its political-electoral wings rather than consolidate in Delhi and the one-man-one-post principle have already been discussed at party meetings. “The proposal to expand nationally has already been rejected in the national executive meeting. Also, the issue about Kejriwal holding two posts – national convenor and chief ministership – is misleading because he has no specific portfolio,” said Chenoy.
Meanwhile, the Punjabi NRI community has launched a ‘ghanti bajao’ campaign to urge the committee members to stay united in the interest of the party ahead of the national executive meet. Groups of volunteers in different countries are also sending letters to the party functionaries to express the same sentiment.