scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeOpinionKejriwal turned AAP from democratic party to autocratic one: Ex-colleague Mayank Gandhi

Kejriwal turned AAP from democratic party to autocratic one: Ex-colleague Mayank Gandhi

Follow Us :
Text Size:

The Delhi CM’s ‘blinding greed for power’ can be seen by the voters, which is why AAP has won nothing recently, says the estranged former AAP leader

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has become an “autocratic party” from a democratic one – only marginally better than the parties it had once set out to defeat, according to its estranged founding member Mayank Gandhi.

At the launch of his book AAP and Down in New Delhi, Gandhi described the transformation party chief Arvind Kejriwal has gone through, saying earlier he used to be “ruthless” and “cold-blooded” in his passion to improve the country, but now, he was only ruthless and cold-blooded to garner votes for himself and his party.

“I loved the passion he had, but now it’s just about getting votes. That’s why he is running around trying to make alliances with the Congress these days,” Gandhi told ThePrint.

“His positions are also opportunistic. He used to criticise (Narendra) Modi so much. That completely stopped after he lost in Punjab. Now either Modi was not all that evil ever, or has now suddenly become a fairy,” he quipped.

However, Kejriwal’s “blinding greed for political power” can be seen by the voters, who have not voted for the party anywhere after the sacking of former AAP leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, Gandhi argued. “The elections for the 20 seats whose AAP MLAs have been disqualified will be the litmus test for Kejriwal,” he said.

Kejriwal is insecure

Elaborating on an assertion he makes in his book about Kejriwal being insecure and falling for conspiracy theories, Gandhi said: “You see, knowing Kejriwal so closely, I know he’s very opportunistic, but also easy to manipulate. He buys into conspiracy theories.

“But if he believed that Yogendra (Yadav) was giving interviews against him and working against the party, why did he keep him as the national spokesperson for three months? Was he waiting to use him to win the election and then remove him?”.

Yadav, who is now the president of Swaraj India, and Prashant Bhushan were sacked from AAP in 2015 for alleged anti-party activities.

Forming a political party a mistake?

While Gandhi threw his weight behind the idea of forming a political party out of the India Against Corruption movement, in retrospect, he said “the movement should have remained a pressure group. We left a vacuum in that space”.

The “downfall” of the AAP, he said, was not electoral. “The party is down on its principles,” Gandhi said. “Thanks to what the movement has been reduced to, it will take generations of people to put faith in another movement. AAP has absolutely abandoned the promise of an alternative political discourse which it had come to power with.”

While the party may keep winning and losing elections “like Lalu’s”, this is not the party with “alternative politics”, he said.

Many analysts expect a grand alliance to be formed against the BJP for the 2019 general elections, but he doesn’t think Kejriwal will have a prominent role in it. “AAP will probably get two seats in Delhi, and one in Punjab. How will he have an important role?” he asked.

As for him, politics is a closed chapter. “I have realised that it was not suitable for me. I got offers from the BJP and the Congress, but my politics is limited to developmental politics,” he said.

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

3 COMMENTS

  1. यह सिक्के का एक पहलू मयंक जी की नजर से है . ये उनकी सोच है जो सही भी हो सकती है और नहीं भी . लेकिन सिक्के के दूसरे पहलू पर उन्होंने कुछ नहीं लिखा अर्थात क्या aap की दिल्ली सरकार जनता के हित में शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्, कॉलोनियों में स्वच्छ पीने के पानी, घर बैठे सरकारी काम , मोहल्ला क्लिनिक आदि ढेर सारे जनता के हित के काम किये जा रहे है और भ्रष्टाचार पर अंकुश आदि पर कुछ नहीं लिखा. शायद उनका मकसद पवित्र न हो.

  2. Please learn to take criticism from people who really cared for AAP. Am an outsider. Whatever Mayank has said makes sense.
    If Kejriwal really wanted to serve people he would not have run and contested against Modi in Varanasi. That clearly reflected his political ambitions(nothing wrong with it) but he let down his constituents. Similarly running to Punjab and Goa. Please understand people in India are not fools and the country is not run on or by social media.
    I am a senior citizen with no political affiliation but it pains to see the country’s political class being so selfish when they are supposed to serve the people. From what I have seen and read Kejriwal is a megalomaniac and will thrive when absolute power is wrested in his hands. Moreover, telling lies in public and make it appear as if it is gospel reflects his personality. Am sure you will try to slam me and call me names too but please do realise that I am a voter and have my rights too.

  3. It is Mayank Gandhi, no less than the Kejriwals, who have acted as moles of the fascist forces in India. These people have let the RSS get a stranglehold on the people of India. Brown or Blackshirts are far more sinister and dangerous to democratic instincts and Idea of Idea than the alleged corruption. Mayanks, Kirans, Bedis and Arvinds have done a great harm to the fragile modern sensibilities in a country where feudalism and patriarchal forces have ruled since times immemorial.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular