DNA Edit: AAPocalypse Now!

Delhi is headed for a mini-election, unless of course, the Delhi High Court or the Supreme Court delivers some much-needed relief to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by putting a stay on the execution of an Election Commission (EC) order that has virtually shaken the young party to its core. On Friday, the EC shot off a recommendation to the President advising him to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs for holding the office of parliamentary secretaries.

Consequently, the President accepted the recommendation, effectively hiving off close to one-third of the party and delivering to the BJP and Congress a golden opportunity to redeem themselves after the humiliating loss in 2015. For now, the lay of the land is murky. Clarity will likely emerge once either the Delhi HC or the SC delivers a verdict, even if an interim one, on the entire controversy which first came to light in May 2016. Yesterday, AAP MLAs withdrew their application from the Delhi HC seeking a stay on the EC order for technical reasons.

AAP’s gameplan going ahead will involve filing a fresh application either in Delhi HC or the SC seeking a stay on the EC order which has received the assent of the President. Will they succeed in securing a stay? Legal experts state that the odds are slim, but one can safely bet that the AAP will not yield till all avenues of legal recourse are exhausted. In any case, if this unprecedented axing of MLAs does indeed take place, it will only be another nail in AAP’s coffin. Far from its Ramlila Maidan roots, the party has fast degenerated into a personality cult with the Delhi CM at the centre of its universe. Papering over the cracks within seems a tall order was now given that the cracks have now become craters.

Earlier this month, AAP’s founding member Kumar Vishwas came out all guns blazing against the BJP after he was unfairly sidelined from the party’s nominations to Rajya Sabha. Instead of opting for an articulate and popular leader like Vishwas, the party put its integrity on sale by nominating a moneybag member, whose sole utility to the party is his financial muscle. Optimists would argue that even if AAP was to lose its 20 MLAs, the party would still command a majority of 46 MLAs in the House versus the BJP’s four MLAs. But, much to the political credit of BJP, it has been steadily chipping away at AAP’s brute majority of 67 MLAs, and has been very successful at sowing dissent. As things stand, AAP is currently home to many members who in actuality are BJP cheerleaders.

Throughout 2017, MLA Kapil Mishra repeatedly embarrassed the party with his explosive allegations of corruption within the party ranks. Others like Devendra Sehrawat, Jitender Singh Tomar, Asim Ahmed Khan, Sandeep Kumar as well as Pankaj Pushkar have faced heat from the party establishment for voicing their opinions against the party leadership. Meanwhile, AAP has not been able to make an impression on the national level; its performance turning out to be sub-par in Goa, Punjab notwithstanding its aspiration to make it as a pan-India party.