The national council meeting of Aam Aadmi Party is going to be held on Saturday. With 2019 Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the national council is likely to discuss its preparations for the election and the present political condition of the country.
According to various media reports, the incumbent Delhi CM AAP Arvind Kejriwal may get his term extended as the National Convener of the party. The party is expected to bring an amendment in its constitution to remove the limit of two terms for being an office bearer. This means that Kejriwal would be able to continue as the party chief for unlimited terms. Arvind Kejriwal was elected as AAP’s national convener for the second time in April 2016 for three years. Kejriwal’s term will come to an end in April 2019.
According to the party constitution, “No member will hold the same post as an office bearer for more than two consecutive terms of three years each.”
If the proposed changes are implemented then it would set a bad precedent for the party. When the AAP was formed, Arvind Kejriwal and its leaders claimed that the party will not be led by a family or an individual. However, it seems that Arvind Kejriwal is doing everything to make AAP, a one-man show. Several prominent personalities have left AAP because of its chief’s autocratic style of functioning. Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Anand Kumar, Ajit Jha, Mayank Gandhi, Anjali Damania, Capt. G.R. Gopinath, Ashutosh, and Ashish Ketan are some of the prominent faces who are disenchanted with AAP and Kejriwal and have left the party. And the list seems to be only growing. Kejriwal promised to bring a change in politics, but no one knew that he was talking about making it worse.
Most of the leaders, who have left the AAP or were expelled from the party, have accused Arvind Kejriwal of running the party like a dictator. Also, Kejriwal has time and again proved them right with his dictatorial behavior.
The Print has quoted lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan saying, “Kejriwal loves power and people he can control completely. He will play any dirty trick to capture power.” He also said, “Immediately after 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the political affairs committee (of the AAP) voted for dissolving the assembly and going for fresh elections. But he said ‘No, I’m the convener and I will take a call’. He wanted to explore an alliance with the Congress. He is the most unscrupulous and unprincipled man.”
Arvind Kejriwal’s behavior has made Aam Aadmi Party a political pariah. His verbal lapses and dictatorial attitude is disliked by all and as a result of this, AAP members seem to be leaving the party and looking for better options ahead of 2019 general elections. AAP and Arvind Kejriwal’s popularity is declining not just in Delhi but also in Punjab where it enjoys some presence. AAP’s Punjab state unit is in shambles, with the entire unit almost in the rebellion mode. Arvind Kejriwal seems to be the biggest enemy of his own party. Animosity between Punjab AAP unit and the central unit is rising day by day. Senior leaders of the party are leaving AAP and joining other parties. Hans Raj Rana from Adampur and HS Walia from Jalandhar Cantt left AAP and joined Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Senior leaders leaving AAP comes as another huge blow for the party which has been in decline ever since its big victory in Delhi. The entire state unit is marred with heavy infighting. AAP is on the verge of extinction in the state and it might not be an exaggeration to say that very soon AAP will recede into oblivion.