AAP faces insider challenge: Dissidents, disgruntled ticket-seekers

It might have promised a different kind of politics and a bold new alternative to the people but, as elections near, the Aam Aadmi Party is finding itself faced with problems and allegations not so different from those that ail the established political parties. And, with polls this close, one serious challenge is from disgruntled ticket-seekers. [caption id=“attachment_1422405” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An AAP rally. AFP[/caption] Right after its third list of Lok Sabha candidates was released last week, the Aam Aadmi Party office was gheraoed by a peaceful crowd bearing posters and banners with allegations against the party and its chief Arvind Kejriwal. ‘Give ticket to deserving candidates,’ read one poster while another said, ‘Stop giving tickets to outsiders.’ This has been the case every time a candidates’ list has been released. Early promises by party leaders that only those who have been in the ranks of the party for long enough will get tickets have fallen by the wayside. According to AAP leader Yogendra Yadav, “It has now has become a recurring problem that our workers are picketing in front of our office for tickets for their favorite candidates. Since we have a very young party, our cadre, unlike the Congress or BJP, is not aware of their ‘market rate’.” Yadav was clearly reflecting on the Vinod Binny fiasco. According to sources, Binny, a former MLA of AAP, quit the party and tried running a campaign against it as he was repeatedly denied a berth in the Delhi cabinet and then also denied a Lok Sabha ticket. Yadav, one of the members of the party’s political advisory committee, says members of Aam Aadmi Party have to realise that running for a corporator is one thing and running for a Parliament seat is quite another. “To be nominated for a Parliament (seat), one has to be a known face among millions,” he says. While Binny was the first major sign of rebellion among the party workers, he was not the last. According to a source in the Aam Aadmi Party, almost everyday, members of the party are approaching leaders for tickets. Upon being refused they are unleashing their bitterness against the party. “Some are even running campaigns against the party on the ground,” says the source. One such man would be Ashwini Upadhyay, a national council member of the party, who protested in front of Kejriwal’s house on Sunday, alleging non-transparency in ticket distribution. “They are giving tickets to corrupt people,” alleged Upadhyay. But Kejriwal was not available to listen. For the record, the party has declared that anyone with proof of corruption against any AAP candidate can approach the party and it will investigate. In the past, the party cancelled the candidature of one of its MLA candidates before the Delhi Assembly election as it turned out that Karol Bagh candidate Preet Pal Saluja had suppressed the fact that there was a case of domestic violence against him. “Things are not the same any more as the Assembly election,” says one of the top leaders of the party. “Our promise of giving tickets to the best person cannot be done any more as the MP elections are a completely different thing,” he says, agreeing however that rising rebellion from the members of the party will send out a wrong message to the electorate. “It is being portrayed that our members are unruly and hungry for power. But this is a completely trivial matter which is being played up by the media in a major way,” says Yogendra Yadav, who himself faced opposition from a man named Kuldeep Jangu in his constituency Gurgaon. “Jangu who is a member, he thinks he is best suited for the PM candidature. What can one say to that?” asks Yadav, who also appears to agree that the “promise of giving tickets to people on the ground was a somewhat populist measure”. However, he makes it clear that the party won’t compromise on the issue of clean candidates. “We are still trying to make sure that none of our candidates have criminal cases against them. After all, that’s what we are campaigning against,” he says. AAP’s top leaders, however, admit that giving tickets will be based on the candidate’s political merit and popularity, but there are other equations too.