New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has proved that he is the only boss and he only matters in the party, which he calls a party of the people. In Saturday's National Executive meeting held in Delhi, the scene was chaotic. It was looking like a battleground. Two of his closest comrades in arms and co-founders of the AAP, Professor Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were manhandled by some of the AAP MLAs and Kejriwal backers.
After Kejriwal controlled National Executive kicked out Yadav and Bhushan, their supporters and aides were kicked by the bouncers. Some of them claim that they are injured in the attack. A shaken Yadav said "the entire violence was pre-planned and pre-scripted. Kejriwal himself was directing that. Some MLAs behaved like goons. Kejriwal has killed democracy in broad day light".
Another prominent AAP leader from Mumbai Mayank Gandhi said that he was kicked by the bouncers and thrown out.
Prashant Bhushan alleged that he was attacked by Kejriwal's people and treated like a petty criminal. Both described the scenes at the meeting as horrifying. Whatever may be his defence, Kejriwal can't escape from the responsibility. The entire drama took place in front of the huge media contingent. Kejriwal who always demands fairness and accountability from all others is now in the dock and must answer for the actions of his men.
It is a fact that Kejriwal enjoys overwhelming majority in both the government and party. He will be facing the next Assembly election in the next five years. He does not need the support of leaders like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan to run the government. He may not try his luck in other states. According to CNN-IBN journalist Rupashree Nanda, Kejriwal is supremely confident and he is no mood to listen to them or patch up at this juncture.
According to Yadav and Bhushan camp, the entire voting was a sham. Without allowing any debate on their demands, the AAP leadership controlled by Kejriwal went ahead with the voting process to sack both of them in a few minutes. Yadav said that he was asked to air his grievances in the form a written complaint. When he agreed to do so, Kejriwal's second in command and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia announced voting and declared that Yadav and Bhushan have been kicked out of the National Executive.
The violence, allegations and counter allegations are not new to our political parties when faced with internal strife. Much worse has happened in the past. When M G Ramachandran walked out of the DMK over serious differences with M Karunanidhi, when the Janata Dal split, when N Chandrababu Naidu ousted his own father in law and Telgu Desam Party (TDP) founder N T Ramarao, when H D Deve Gowda and Ramakrishna Hegde parted ways, Indian politics has seen much worse and more horrifying scenes.
But, nobody expected the AAP to adopt the same culture, which they oppose in the public. The AAP which prides itself on internal democracy and transparency was not expected to stoop to this level.
Kejriwal has been maintaining a complete silence over what is happening in the party. He left the venue of national executive meeting without facing the media or public. But, he will have to come out and make his stand clear one day. Otherwise his carefully built image of a simple man will be dented beyond repair.
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