How to revive a dying brand: Will the anti-corruption pitch work for AAP yet again?

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), that became a political outfit to reckon in record time and acquired national ambitions as well, is apparently now back to basics — fight against corruption. With a steady decline in its acceptability among the masses, internal bickering and its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, the party now wants to rebuild its waning brand equity, its image as anti-corruption curasader and a party ‘with a difference’.

In a bid to reclaim its lost ground in Delhi and its popularity among the masses across the country, the AAP has decided not to contest Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, it would focus on repositioning itself in the political space instead. In December 2013, the AAP had made its mark among the common man and the voters of Delhi by winning 28 out of 70 Delhi assembly seats in the very first year of its formation, but the party had to pay a heavy price after quitting the government in 49 days. The Lok Sabha debacle soon followed. Marred by controversies in quick succession, and a gradual vacuum in its leadership due to the exit of a large number of party members and grass root volunteers – who had been with the AAP since its formation – has caused considerable damage to the party.

Probably, after an introspection and undergoing a SWOT (Strength, Weaksness, Opportunity & Threat) analysis, the AAP now wants to rebuild its organisational structure, strengthening of its cadre and voice against corruption. The exodus of its volunteers, who used to be its core strength, has virtually shaken the party’s confidence.

“We won’t contest Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections. But, we’ll contest in Delhi as and when it happens,” senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia told FP. Sisodia, at a discussion organised by a national daily recently, had said, “We want to change the system, not repair it.”

The party mailer doing the rounds carries the tag line: ‘We are far from perfect, but we learn from our mistakes, and our intent has never been in question.’

The AAP spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon told media that the Lok Sabha election results brought a realisation that it would not be possible to win elections without a strong grass root organisational structure. “We’ve also realised that due to the lack of resources and inability of the party to give financial support, many candidates had to struggle to fight elections. The party has decided that it should concentrate on strengthening the organization, establishing processes and systems, building the infrastructure for communication with volunteers and empowering them through training, so that the party gets a strong volunteer base and organizational strength to enable it to fight traditional politics,” she said.

According to Menon, the whole initiative is to encourage participatory democracy. “We will publish pamphlets and hold meetings and street plays exposing corrupt candidates and encourage citizens to vote for clean candidates. AAP will also start a drive against the menace of black money, alcohol and other bribes paid to lure the voters. Our helpline will guide people to fight these corrupt practices and we will take to the streets to protest against this menace,” Menon added.

The party volunteers have decided to launch an awareness campaign on proactive participation — ‘Jagrut Nagrik’ (Aware Citizen) and the party will encourage teams to conduct two campaigns in each assembly constituency — to identify corrupt candidates and prevent bribes.

“Aam Aadmi Party bagan with a protest movement, and from a group it got converted into a political party. But, in the last one year, there had been enough confusion within the party that has caused damage to the image it had created among the masses. Now, it seems AAP wants to economize its strengths and to remain in public memory by projecting itself as a voice against corruption – the one it used to be in the beginning,” said social observer Shiv Visvanathan. “The party will use its anti-corruption crusader image, which it wants to revamp, in Delhi election,” he added.

The AAP was formed on the foundation of India Against Corruption movement lead by Anna Hazare that gave it an unprecedented nationwide popularity within a short span of time. Former Delhi chief minister and the party’s convenor Arvind Kejriwal attracted huge public attention through news in the media for his anti-corruption exposés.

“Exposing corruption has been our party’s motto, and we’re emphasising on it strongly. In addition, the party would now, once again, try to establish itself from the ground level and increase its member base,” a senior AAP volunteer from East Delhi said.

But, this is not for the first time that AAP has decided to go for restructuring. In June, after its three-day national executive meeting, Kejriwal had said that the party would go for an organisational revamp, and the Political Affairs Committee would be re-formed under ‘Mission Vistaar’. Similarly, in the first week of September, the Aam Aadmi Party in a seminar in Mumbai said that it looked to be on a road to revamp its core organisational and strategic structure.

“Whatever they do now won’t bear fruit as the party is devoid of its multi-level leadership and volunteers. Moreover, they don’t have any clue on what to do with the exisiting volunteers, as there is no work for them in the party. Despite holding a mass rally at Jantar Mantar on August 3, the party failed to impress the public with its agenda. Even, party members from other states have expressed their anger and concern over the party’s decisions,” said Rakesh Agarwal, secretary of Nyayabhoomi, who was closely associated with Kejriwal for 14 years.

“Even, there is a drop in the online donation to the party as is evident from the party’s website,” adds Agarwal. No wonder, the party is exhorting its followers online to ‘donate today to the AAP for the return of honest politics to Delhi.’

Meawhile, the AAP plans to team up with citizens to prepare a ‘Citizens Charter’ and will demand that the candidates pledge to implement them after winning the election.