Express View on Kailash Gahlot’s exit: AAP must ask itself: What do we stand for?

Nov 19, 2024 01:29 IST First published on: Nov 19, 2024 astatine 03:29 IST

Kailash Gahlot’s exit from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and his joining the BJP marks a deepening of the governmental situation successful Delhi’s ruling party. Gahlot has been among AAP’s astir salient leaders and has held respective important portfolios successful the Delhi government, including home, concern and transport. Along with being the party’s astir salient Jat face, helium has helmed the implementation of respective flagship schemes including the Mahila Samman Rashi — apt to beryllium a salient portion of the AAP’s assembly predetermination run aboriginal adjacent year. Gahlot’s exit, portion a stroke successful itself, besides points to issues that person beset his erstwhile enactment crossed 2 registers. First, idealism and welfarism are nary replacement for a coherent ideological stance, particularly astatine a clip erstwhile the BJP, the cardinal rod of Indian politics, has expansive governmental and societal designs. Second — arsenic Gahlot each but said portion departing — the enactment that came up denigrating politics-as-usual has been caught up successful it.

The AAP’s politics, particularly since it archetypal assumed bureau successful Delhi, has been astir showcasing a governance exemplary that prioritises work transportation – peculiarly authorities schools and healthcare. The party’s predominant clashes with the Centre and Delhi’s L-G person created roadblocks to its argumentation initiatives. At the aforesaid time, scandals, tribunal cases and allegations person diminished the motivation halo, which the enactment had acquired with its anti-corruption campaigns. The contention implicit renovations astatine the residence allotted to Arvind Kejriwal erstwhile helium was CM — Gahlot referred to this successful his resignation missive — for example, sits poorly with AAP’s rhetoric since the Anna Hazare question days. On secularism and number rights, too, the AAP has often tried to outdo the BJP — blaming “Bangladeshis” and Rohingya refugees for communal violence, for instance. Gahlot besides said “political ambitions person overtaken our committedness towards the people,” hinting astatine the Kejriwal property cult. The AAP’s allegations that the BJP is poaching its leaders look unconvincing. On the time Gahlot resigned, the AAP welcomed two-time BJP MLA Anil Jha into its fold. A time later, erstwhile Congress MLA Somesh Shokeen joined the party.