Major jolt to AAP: Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashutosh quits party

While the whole country was celebrating the 72^nd anniversary of India’s independence yesterday, Aam Aadmi Party leaders and workers received a jolt from senior leader Ashutosh’s resignation. The resignation of Ashutosh came as an early birthday gift for the AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, whose birthday falls on 16^th of August. There has been a flood of messages on social media platforms following the tweet with which Ashutosh signalled an end to his journey with the AAP. Most of them pointed fingers towards Arvind and his dictatorial position in the party cadres. This is not the first blow to Kejriwal though who has received much flak after the oust of known faces such as Kumar Vishwas, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the party too. Kejriwal was dubbed as an authoritarian who had assumed dictatorial stature in the party, meaning there was no democracy left in the party which had promised to revolutionise and bring democracy in its true form to each citizen of the country. For these and many other reasons it is quite likely that Arvind Kejriwal will celebrate his 50^th birthday all alone.

There are various measures to judge a person or an organization, AAP has shown that it is not exactly a party of saints. From Ashutosh to Arvind Kejriwal and almost everyone in between had been engaged in sensational political drama throughout their careers, from shedding crocodile tears in live TV debates to defending sexual acts committed by his partners, Ashutosh can hardly claim to be a saint. Ashutosh’s resignation on the Independence Day could also be seen as symbolic of the freedom which AAP’s leaders and workers crave for inside the party. If ex-AAP leader Prashant Bhushan is to be believed, Ashutosh has quit after he was neglected for a Rajya Sabha seat from his party, this sentiment was also echoed by ex-AAP leader Prashant Bhushan who added that the only people left in AAP are “sycophants”.

Kumar Vishwas while resigning from the party had cited that he was being “punished for speaking the truth“, Prashant Bhushan and others who were expelled from the party too had to quit over disagreements with Arvind Kejriwal. Ex member of AAP Kapil Mishra has recite many instances of misconduct of the Delhi CM. There is something seriously wrong with the way Kejriwal manages or rather mismanages his party, his autocratic behaviour which is supplemented quite aptly by his egomaniac behaviour is wreaking havoc for residents of Delhi and the AAP members themselves. Maybe, Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh would be at his side for a few more years, since they have proven to be good followers and do not exactly possess leadership skills. Dissent with the central government had led to the creation of AAP in the first place, lack of dissent within the party ranks will kill AAP, and it looks like it will happen sooner than later.