The troubles for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) refuse to die down since its debacle in the Lok Sabha polls. After several AAP leaders quit the party raising voices at the “absence of internal democracy” in the party, its patron Shanti Bhushan on Wednesday joined the chorus and questioned the organisational skills of the party national convener Arvind Kejriwal in leading the party nationally.
His son and another senior party leader Prashant Bhushan, however, was quick to react to Mr. Bhushan's statement and said that Mr. Bhushan should not have expressed his concerns publically. The party termed the criticism as “misplaced” and “unfortunate”.
Questioning Mr. Kejriwal's organisational skills and internal democracy in the AAP, Mr. Shanti Bhushan said, “Mr. Kejriwal is a great leader and a great campaigner, but in my opinion he lacks organisational ability”.
“He does not have the kind of competence which can spread the message of the party all over India, which can quickly create elected structures of the party which nobody will be able to blame. Therefore this delay of two years in getting the elected structures in place is a great handicap. This is resulting in different voices,” he told the media.
Mr. Bhushan also said that Mr. Kejriwal is not the sole voice of the party since he has not been elected by all the party members across the country, a point which several other dissidents in the party also raised vociferously.
“Today, since he does not owe his position as an elected person by all India members of the party therefore he cannot say his voice is the sole voice of the party. Possibly, he thinks that because the National Council appointed him as convenor of the National Executive which is why he probably feels his voice is the main", he said.
The criticism is seen in the context of several party leaders like Shazia Ilmi leaving the party while alleging absence of internal democracy in its functioning. The brewing discontent among its volunteers led to some of them forming an alternative group like Aap Volunteers Manch (AVAM) in order to “voice the concerns of the volunteers and ensure their representation in the party's decision making bodies” in June.
Mr. Shanti Bhushan had come out in support of the volunteers' group. The party, however, had expelled Karan Singh the senior volunteer who took the initiative of forming AVAM.
Mr. Prashant Bhushan, who is also the party spokesperson, told The Hindu: “While he has the right to have his view and it might also be a legitimate view, he should not have raised his point in public. These issues are supposed to be discussed in inner party forums”.
While defending Mr. Kejriwal’s leadership, AAP spokesperson Ashutosh told The Hindu: “The biggest example of internal democracy is the party’s decision to contest Lok Sabha elections on a large number of seats, despite opposition from Mr. Kejriwal”.
