The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal, is now on the brink of a collapse. How did this happen?
AAP was launched with massive hype. Now deserters seem to outnumber party loyalists. Indeed, New Delhi is branding the AAP as a 'corrupt' party, while the hype is long over. The AAP captured 67 Assembly seats out of 70 - such was the massive mandate granted to it after much drama.
Now 35 MLAs are under scanner, and not just by the Election Commission. Various Government agencies, like the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, have taken a deep interest in AAP MLAs. After this correspondent interacted with ten major leaders, the slow down of the AAP can be described in a single sentence, "AAP lost voters confidence".
Initially, the policies and principles of the AAP, the party's election manifesto and the public assurances given AAP leaders were all new and attracted voters, who ensured that AAP bagged 99% of the seats in the Delhi Assembly. But the political approach of Kejriwal derailed his popularity.
Kejriwal seemed to spend all of his time criticising the BJP Government at the Centre. Further, he travelled to Kolkata to meet Mamata, went to Hyderabad to attend Vemula's funeral and joined Nitish Kumar in Patna for a public rally.
Instead of concentrating on the massive victory the AAP got in Delhi and giving a proper administration to Delhiites, Kejriwal seemed fueled by grand ambitions to be the principal opposition leader in 2019 and a major challenge to PM Narendra Modi.
As such, policies, programmes and political handling, all appeared to go out Kejriwal's control. What's worse, during his travels to other states, juniors in the AAP were accused of looting the system. Three AAP ministers are in the CBI net. 21 MLAs are facing disqualification. In such a scenario, how can a regional party survive?
The voters have now lost faith in AAP in New Delhi. This was explicitly shown during the recent polls of Delhi's municipal authorities, where the BJP won with a two-thirds majority.
How did such a sudden downfall of Kejriwal and the AAP happen? The manner is which his close friends parted ways with Kejriwal reveals a part of the answer.
In the short span of two years, dissidents have flourished in the AAP, thanks to Kejriwal. And they have caused enormous damage. Kapil Mishra, once a close confidant of Kejriwal, brought out volumes of documents, accusing the AAP of money laundering.
Kapil also alleges, with some documents as proof, that Kejriwal and Satyendra Jain bribed officials to convert agricultural land into commercial land.
Then there is the case of Raghav Chadha. Chadha was the 'go-between' for the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu and Kejriwal, in the initial months after AAP's victory.
But suddenly one morning, Kejriwal announced that he was 'changing' Raghav Chadha's post. The move sent a shock wave amongst the cadre. The 28-year-old young face, a budding Chartered Accountant, gave his prime youth days to AAP. Famously, he postponed his marriage for the party.
The outing of Kumar Vishwas, the well-known poet, orator and another young face, further shook confidence in the party.
On June 4, during the National Executive Committee meeting, Kumar questioned Kejriwal about the charges made by Kapil Mishra regarding the mishandling of AAP accounts. Kumar Vishwas was tossed out soon after, and he is now close to Mishra the arch rival.
Finally, AAP's backing out of their 'EVM challenge' was the last nail in the coffin for the AAP. If the party accused EVMs of being faulty, it should have accepted the Election Commission's challenge.
But the AAP retreated when faced with the EC's 'hackathon' - losing almost all faith among the electorate. After the massive defeat in Goa, Punjab and especially in the Delhi Municipal polls, the AAP is truly decimated. In three short years, things have gone haywire.
Can Kejriwal run the show of AAP up to 2019?
R Rajagopalan is a senior journalist and analyst based in New Delhi. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect those of Asianet Newsable
