Setback For AAP As Leaders Switch To BJP
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-04-10 16:58:15
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is experiencing both euphoria and
setbacks after its historic win in Punjab. The party had organized Tiranga
Yatras in a bid to test the waters in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the two
states that will go to the polls later this year. As it had done well in the Surat
municipal elections in 2021, the party hit Gujarat first. It was naturally
elated when a huge crowd turned up for its rally in Ahmedabad. The smile never
left Arvind Kejriwal's face as he got a rousing reception in Narendra Modi's
home state. But what happened next was a huge setback for the party. Within a couple
of days, more than 150 mid-level leaders and workers of AAP in Gujarat switched
sides and joined the BJP (after 5 Surat councilors had done the same in
February this year). It will be disastrous for the party is trying to set up
organizational infrastructure to break the two-party monopoly in Gujarat and it
is well-known that mid-level leaders are the backbone of any organization.
Losing 150 of them in a single day can be bad for even an established party,
let alone e newbie like AAP. If that was
not all, the same story repeated after the party's rally in Himachal. Just a
couple of days later, Anoop Kesari, the president of AAP's state unit, Satish Thakur, organization general secretary
and Una president Iqbal Singh joined the BJP in a huge setback to the party.
Why is this happening? One big reason is that the BJP is wary of AAP gaining prominence in these states and taking over the Congress space to emerge as a strong competitor and is poaching on AAP leaders. The other reason is that, as Arvind Kejriwal said in the Himachal rally, the AAP does not know politics, it knows only work. It might sound good to say so in public rallies to give AAP a different and maybe better image. But when it comes to the battleground, not doing politics will not help AAP's cause. It faces a belligerent BJP with its well-oiled election machinery that is now in top gear following the excellent results in four out of the five states that went to the polls recently. It will not let AAP have it easy like Punjab where it was not a serious player. Hence, AAP will have to cover its bases even as it launches a frontal attack on the BJP. Otherwise it will keep losing its leaders to the bigger and stronger opponent and will not be able to set up a fighting unit in any of the states.
