Infighting In AAP and Yogendra Yadav: Is Manish Sisodia Right In Questioning Him?

When it comes to Aam Aadmi Party, the drama rarely surprises us. Ever since the party was formed under its leader Arvind Kejriwal, it has worked, played and thrown tantrums in front of the camera. But the worst part of being in front of camera 24*7 is that you lose touch with reality and start considering the drama, which once fetched you applause, a way of life.

Over the period of time, before and after the 16^th Lok sabha elections, members of AAP have been leaving it for the lack of internal democracy and deviation from its original path. The in-fight has become more open. Thursday brought nothing new for the party as this list grew longer adding two big names of Maharashtra AAP cadre – Anjali Damania and Preeti Menon.

Both had been a part of the formative years of the party. In a letter addressed to AAP colleagues issued Thursday evening, Damania, who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur, had said she was ending her “association with AAP”. Unlike others leaving the sinking ship, she had not given any specific reason for her resignation. Similar was the case with Menon.

But the surprise package came when both took a U-turn and took their resignations back on being assured of the formation of a new state executive that would be transparent and broad-based to ensure adequate communication with party workers.

AAP leader Mayank Gandhi gave more insight into the new resignations. “Relation between the party leaders and volunteers had recently soured. Complaints against the behaviour of committee members by AAP workers and lack of communication at various levels were irritating them… Anjali wanted petty fights between the party leadership and volunteers to stop,” Gandhi told reporters.

There has been an open fight ongoing between Yogendra a.k.a. Salim Yadav and Navin Jaihind for almost a fortnight embarrassing party volunteers and members. This fight is a result of the lackluster showing in the Lok Sabha elections. All the AAP leaders, who recently left the party, had mentioned about this fight and also about the group of leaders who cut of the communication line between them and party chief Kejriwal.

Shazia Ilmi, who left AAP immediately after Kejriwal was jailed in Nitin Gadkari defamation case for refusing to furnish personal bond, was most vocal about this fight and communication gap.

This reached its acme when Yadav resigned from the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) last Saturday. Earlier, reports were coming that he had resigned from the party, but later Yadavhimself cleared the air and mentioned that he had oly left PAC and was very much with the party.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal’s close aid and one from the upper leadership, Manish Sisodia, added another open-ness to this open fight. He wrote a letter to Yadav accusing him of trying to “finish” the party and tarnish the image of Kejriwal.

The letter, written in chaste Hindi, has been published by media today.

Here is the text of the letter:

आदरणीय योगेन्द्र भाई !

पिछले १५ दिन से आपके और नवीन जयहिन्द के बीच बहुत ही गंदा झगड़ा चल रहा हे. दुःख की बात हे कि आप लोग यह झगड़ा पब्लिक और मीडिया के बीच कर रहे हें. इससे पार्टी की लगातार बदनामी हो रही है. इससे भी ज्यादा दुःख की बात यह है कि आप नवीन जय हिन्द के खिलाफ सख्त अनुशासनात्मक कार्रवाई करवाना चाहते थे. आपकी मर्ज़ी के मुताबिक़ कार्रवाई न होने पर आप जबरन अरविंद को इस लड़ाई में घसीट रहे हैं.

मोटे तौर पर आपके आरोप हैं कि अरविंद पीएसी की सलाह नहीं मानना चाहते। आपके ईमेल में यह आरोप पढ़कर आश्चर्य होता है. क्योंकि आज तक अरविंद हमेशा आपका समर्थन करते रहे तब तक  अरविंद आपको अच्छे और प्यारे लगते रहे. जैसे कि – आपने गुड़गांव से चुनाव लड़ने का फैसला किया. पीएसी के कई सदस्य इसके खिलाफ थे लेकिन अरविंद ने आपका समर्थन किया। अरविंद ने सबको तैयार किया. तब अरविंद जनतांत्रिक थे. इसके पहले भी – जब आप हरियाणा के प्रभारी बनाना चाहते थे और आप यह भी चाहते थे कि पार्टी आपको हरियाणा में मुख्यमंत्री उम्मीदवार के रूप में प्रस्तुत करे. पीएसी में कई साथी इसके खिलाफ थे. तब भी अरविंद ने ही आपका समर्थन किया था. तब भी अरविंद जनतांत्रिक थे।  अब पार्टी हरियाणा में बुरी हालत में पहुँच गई है. कार्यकर्ता आपके और नवीन जयहिंद के खुलेआम झगड़े के बारे में लगातार बताते रहते हैं. इस्तीफा देने के दो दिन पहले भी करनाल में आपके और नवीन की बीच कार्यकर्ताओं के समक्ष जमकर झगड़ा हुआ था. आप नवीन के खिलाफ सख्त कार्रवाई चाहते है और अरविंद इसमें आपका साथ नहीं दे रहे तो अब वे पार्टी सुप्रीमो की तरह हो गए हैं.

दिल्ली सरकार गिराये जाने के बाद आपने हरियाणा में सर्वे करवाया था जिसमें हमें करीब २३ प्रतिशत वोट मिलने का अनुमान था  लेकिन आपकी अगुआई में जब मात्र डेढ़ महीने बाद चुनाव हुए तो हमें केवल ३ प्रतिशत वोट मिले, इसकी समीक्षा की ज़रूरत है. पीएसी के साथी और तमाम कार्यकर्ता इसका जवाब चाहते है कि  ऐसा कैसे हो गया? तो अब आप अरविंद पर सुप्रीमो  होने का आरोप लगाकर मुद्दे को भटकाना चाहते हैं.

अरविंद पुरे देश में लोकसभा चुनाव लड़ने के सख्त खिलाफ थे. अरविंद कुछ साल तक केवल दिल्ली की राजनीति करना चाहते थे. लेकिन आप व कुछ अन्य सदस्य पुरे देश में लोकसभा चुनाव के पक्ष में थे. नतीजे हमारे सामने हैं.

नवीन जय हिन्द भी अपने पुराने मजबूत साथी हैं. उन्होंने भी इस अान्दोलन में जमकर लाठियां खाई है. हरियाणा के नतीज़ों और आपके व् नवीन के बीच जो चल रहा है उस पर समीक्षा की ज़रूरत है. लेकिन आपने लगभग सार्वजनिक ईमेल लिखकर जिस तरह इस्तीफा दिया और अब उसी तरह की लगभग सार्वजनिक ईमेल लिखकर मुद्दे को मोड़ते हुए इसमें अरविंद को घसीटने की कोशिश की है यह ठीक नहीं है.

योगेन्द्र भाई सच्ची राजनीति जनता का दिल जीतने और अपने कार्यकर्ताओं का सम्मान अर्जित करने से होती  है. पिछले १५ दिन में आपके व्यवहार से मुझे काफी दुःख हुआ है. बाकी आप खुद  समझदार हैं. दुःख इस बात का भी है कि आजकल आप मीटिंग में आने की जगह चिट्ठियां लिखने की राजनीति कर रहे हैं. मैं समझ नहीं पा रहा हूँ कि इन इमेल्स के ज़रिए आप क्या चाहते हैं? पार्टी ख़त्म करना चाहते हैं? नवीन के खिलाफ लड़ाई जीतना चाहते है या अरविंद को ख़त्म करना चाहते हैं?

आपका

मनीष सिसोदिया

While Sisodia may be defending Kejriwal, who is definitely not a victim of Yadav’s hand-holding, we cannot deny the fact that Yadav was indeed running the party and orchestrating its moves in the Lok Sabha elections. The 18 month old party, which was touted to win big, barely managed to win four seats and that too from Punjab only. But the loss is as much a fault of Kejriwal as it is of Yadav.

The actual accusation in the letter is that Yadav is trying to finish Kejriwal and his party.

Well, we all know that the core leadership turned party’s slogan of anti-corruption into anti-Modi. The whole attention was diverted from the ‘evil’ Congress clan towards BJP after AAP won big in Delhi. The first sign of this came when the party decided to form the government with the help of the same ‘corrupt’ Congress against whom they had won. Yadav had a big hand in doing all of this.

The plan for the future, which was floating in the air as a rumour, was actually true. The third front was taking shape. Amma and Didi along with Behenji were ready to be together and extend support to this third front as and when the need arose in the aftermath of ok Sabha elections.

Everybody knew that there was a Modi-wave, but they wanted to rely on the anti-corruption magical touch of AAP which had surprised them all in the past. In case Congress received wee bit low mandate, it was to be helped by AAP and this third front.

Yadav could not have won without the poster-boy Kejriwal in order to win the Lok sabha election and reinstate Congress in the Centre so to enjoy the limelight and boast big about his alternative politics. AAP had to be the B-team of Congress without even its knowledge and Rahul Gandhi had to be the PM without any hassle.

Afterall, who wouldn’t want good for his ‘favourite’ student? Yes, you heard right. Yadav was a fellow of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies from where he was picked up to become the member of National Advisory Council in the UPA government. Subsequently, he became a mentor to the Congress vice-president and advised him during 2009 elections which Congress had won.

But the Modi-wave became a Tsunami and Yadav was caught in the web of his own lies which resulted in Congress’ demise and loss of his own party. Questioning his credentials and strategies will surely be hurting his ego. And why would he need AAP now when the damage has been done?