#dnaEdit: Aam Aadmi no more?

Arvind Kejriwal’s claims to being a practitioner of alternative politics lies in shambles with the surfacing of a recorded conversation he had with former Aam Aadmi Party legislator Rajesh Garg during the months that the Delhi assembly was in suspended animation. Kejriwal is heard discussing ways to break the eight-member Congress legislature party, even suggesting that six of them come out and form a new party. The AAP has attempted to play down the tape claiming that it was aiming for political realignment and not horse-trading, since the tapes did not reveal monetary or ministerial incentives. Further, the AAP is now blaming the BJP for then attempting to poach the Congress MLAs and forcing the AAP to act and counter such moves. However, this is a weak line of defence which exposes the AAP to the charge of becoming desperate to cling to power. For an avowed proponent of agitational politics, it is revealing that Kejriwal was not willing to consider a stint in the Opposition ranks. It is even more ironical considering that this was the same leader who had quit Delhi’s chief ministerial post and the government after 49 days in February 2014. Was it the subsequent loss of face in the Lok Sabha elections and a brief spell in political wilderness that drove Kejriwal to learn the tricks of political skullduggery?

India, at the Centre and in states, has often been witness to ruling and opposition political parties resorting to dubious tactics — engineering defections and breaking opponents’ parties, just to grab power. In effect, even as Kejriwal was going to town upholding the AAP as a model of political probity, his practices had come to resemble those of the political establishment that he sought to overthrow. The timing of the sting does seem to suggest its links with the ongoing dissidence that Kejriwal has been facing from Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. Until now, the accusations traded by the two factions have centred around anti-party activity and undemocratic practices. Meanwhile, Kejriwal has been conspicuously silent even while allowing his lieutenants to settle scores with the dissidents. One loyalist, Anjali Damania, who not so long ago, publicly castigated Kejriwal’s detractors for going public with the AAP’s problems, has now quit in disgust at the double standards.

The intense scrutiny of the AAP’s actions has only been proportionate to its heightened rhetoric on idealism, ethics, transparency, and democracy. Not so long ago it was a civil society-led anti-corruption movement that transformed itself into a political party when the Lokpal Act was stonewalled by politicians. There’s no doubt that the AAP diligently developed a grassroots organisation and created a new framework to pursue alternative social, economic and political policies. But tragically, the party’s obsession with electoral politics has taken a heavy toll on the very spirit of its being and also on the countless devoted volunteers. 

Most of the trouble can be attributed to Kejriwal’s emphasis on sting operations to resolve problems. From touting sting operations as a defensive tactic to protecting its MLAs from poaching — and for citizens to expose corrupt public servants — the perversion in this surreptitious tactic is now all too evident. Recall that the Kejriwal camp used one such recorded conversation with a journalist to nail Yadav for dissident activities. This and Garg’s recording, despite serving to expose Kejriwal, also reveals a party ridden by distrust and little concern for ethics. A famous victory has been followed by a rapid meltdown. 

The AAP may yet be able to pull back from the abyss if its delivers a responsive and people-friendly government. But the harder task will be to recover the lost moral high ground. With the halo around its supreme leader dimmed and the privileges of government beckoning, a course correction may become more difficult.