AAP rift: Volunteers make themselves heard, say no to new party

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party Aap Ka, Nahi Kisi Ke Baap Ka (Aam Aadmi Party belongs to you, and it’s no one’s father’s property). This slogan from volunteers at the lawns of Shubh Vatika resort in Gurgaon on Tuesday spoke a lot about the mood in the rebel camp. About four thousand of them from across the country had assembled there to express solidarity with the AAP dissenter group led by Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. As this group addressed the media today, outlining its future course of action, it had the volunteer sentiment written all over.[caption id=“attachment_2197976” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Swaraj Samwad. PTI[/caption] During the long interaction on Tuesday they made it clear that they wanted no compromise on the party’s fundamental principles and ideology. The rebel group made it evident at the press meet today that it would remain true to the party’s original principles, and more importantly, they would not back out from a fight if the AAP leadership decided on one. While the rebels have decided to operate as a separate group within the AAP in the form of Swaraj Abhiyan – it would strive to popularize swaraj and work to strengthening alternative politics – they seem to be veering towards the formation of a new party at some distant point. Right now, the volunteer mood is against a new party. In an internal referendum, 70 percent of them voted against it, Yadav told today. Finally, it’s the volunteers who would decide what shape the new initiative takes. “It’s neither the AAP nor Arvind Kejriwal or anyone from Swaraj Samwad, who is important. It’s the nation first. Like many others who are here, I’m thoroughly disappointed by the turn of events since the party’s National Council meeting. Despite being a tall leader, Kejriwal didn’t prevent all these incidents from happening. It has left a bad taste in the mouth. It’s not the question of having a new party, but we need a mature understanding leadership, who can take all the volunteers together and move ahead,” said 65-year-old Surender Singh, AAP’s founding member from Hyderabad. “If, the top leadership disagrees with us, they better leave the party. Why should we leave? AAP doesn’t belong to any individual or group. It emerged out of a movement and an ideology of initiating alternative politics. Has Kejriwal ever thought, if 50 of his MLAs leave AAP and form another party, under a new leader, what would happen to him? From where will he garner support?” questioned Singh. Disappointed by the series of murky incidents and mud-slinging that followed within the party, after the AAP formed government in Delhi, the volunteers now want to give a clear message even to the ‘rebel’ group that no individual or group is as important as an ideology and the nation. “AAP is not just another political party. It got a huge mandate in such a short time due to its promise of bringing an alternative politics and Swaraj. So, we’re not here to support Kejriwal, Yadav, Bhushan or any other person, who may emerge tomorrow. We campaigned during Delhi election for the party, not for an individual. Now, we’re feeling cheated because accountability, responsibility, transparency and democracy are gradually diminishing from the party. These need to be restored and not a new party to be formed at present,” said Ashok Pote, who came from New Mumbai. Added another volunteer Avdesh Shukla from Vashi in Navi Mumbai, “I’m just a volunteer and have no aspiration to be a part of AAP’s central leadership or an office-bearer. I want that the party should get back to its original form – the one we had promised to the people of this country.” There are thousands of volunteers ranging from a 22-year-old youth to a 75-year-old senior citizen for whom neither Kejriwal nor Bhushan, Yadav nor the AAP that matters; it’s only the ideology of a clean, transparent and democratic alternative politics, which is supreme. They have been working since Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement days and never aspired to hold any post in the party, but they served as an engine to keep the party moving ahead. Since, they have nothing to lose except a ‘dream of having a new political party based on Swaraj’, they were candidly vocal even at the Swaraj Samwad – the forum that has questioned Kejriwal for deviating from the party’s core principles. “AAP always believed in an inclusive growth, where each volunteer is an equal stakeholder and its leaders are trustees. In a democracy, the voice of a volunteer is final. Kejriwal is only a trustee of AAP. The day he misuses his power, he ceases to be a leader,” Radhakrishnan TR Aiyyer, an AAP member from Haryana emphatically said.