All hail the supreme leader: AAP has become a one-man party run by Arvind Kejriwal

Democracy in political parties has always been a myth in India. From Indira and Sonia Gandhi’s Congress to VP Singh’s Janata Dal and Narendra Modi’s BJP, political outfits almost always revolve around personalities, who run them like personal businesses, treating those below them as followers, not collaborators. This model has worked for decades because the leader acquires so much power and authority that he/she is embraced not just as the primus inter pares (first among equals), but worshipped as the ‘supreme leader’. [caption id=“attachment_2059359” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Arvind Kejriwal and Shazia Ilmi in a file photo.[/caption] The leader’s ascent to the top is usually a long-drawn process, dotted with revolts, betrayals, public spats and, sometimes, nasty political battles. In the end, the winner takes it all and the loser either surrenders or walks out to join a different party. We may want to think that Arvind Kejriwal is different from Indira or Modi, but he is following the same evolutionary arc, as he attempts to establish his complete and undisputed control over the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and creating an inhospitable environment for dissenters and rivals. Shazia Ilmi, Vinod Kumar Binny and several other founding members of the party have left him, most of them after acrimonious, ugly battles. Kumar Vishwas is almost on the fence — like the proverbial Hamlet caught between his love for Kejriwal and resentment of his dictatorial politics. And now, Shanti Bhushan, the man who was the party’s single-biggest donor and evangelist, has cast aspersions on Kejriwal’s leadership, claiming that his BJP rival Kiran Bedi is an equally good option for Delhi. This is almost blasphemy for Kejriwal’s supporters. They once made a pretty picture: Kejriwal, Shazia, Binny, Vishwas and Manish Sisodia, standing side by side, their swords drawn like the knights of King Arthur, under the beatific gaze of the patriarch Bhushan. Now, those same swords are at each other’s throats. What went wrong? Nothing, really. AAP is being transformed into AAP(K) much as Congress became Congress(I) and BJP was modified into BJP(M). Those who are not willing to accept him, those who have been marginalised and those considered impediments to his ideas and ambition, are already ejected or rapidly on their way out. Indira Gandhi went through a similar process in the late 60s when she fought a bitter war with the Syndicate. Again, in the 90s, VP Singh squabbled with Devi Lal and Chandrashekhar when they challenged his leadership. A similar shakeout happened in the BJP when LK Advani and his cohorts were sidelined to make way for their supreme leader. Kejriwal may be called an anarchist, but when it comes to running his party, he is the ultimate control freak. And, at least in this aspect, his party is not too different from the other established outfits. Like all quintessential Indian leaders, he is at heart a dictator. The debate on the virtue of strong leadership versus democracy has long been bitter and, in practice, favoured the latter. Within the Congress, for instance, Rahul Gandhi’s efforts to usher in democracy at the grass-root level with US-style primaries have ruined the party and the organisation. There are, of course, specific reasons for each rebellion or departure. Shanti Bhushan, for instance, is unhappy that he is not consulted on crucial decisions. Shazia may have left, as the rumours go, when she tried to unite Muslim voters during her Lok Sabha campaign in Ghaziabad and reportedly got a dressing down from Kejriwal. Vishwas may be still sulking because he was left all alone to battle Rahul Gandhi while Kejriwal hogged all the limelight. And Binny, like all career politicians, wanted to be a minister, and was denied the privilege. Others like founding member Madhuri Bhaduri left saying AAP is a patriarchal cabal run by men who do not respect women. There was a time soon after the Lok Sabha polls when the resentment against Kejriwal had almost led to Manish Sisodia’s anointment as the AAP’s new leader. According to some reports, the party had sent feelers to the Congress, seeking its support for government formation in Delhi, conveying its eagerness to elect Sisodia as the chief minister. Kejriwal has since recovered lost ground. The Delhi election is as much an opportunity to consolidate power within his party as to gain it at the polls. Whether it wins or loses, AAP is now on the path of irretrievably becoming a one-man party.