DC Edit | Defection Of Key MPs Does No Good To Image Of AAP

It may not have all the hallmarks of Operation Lotus, but the transfer of seven out of 10 Rajya Sabha members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the BJP points to the single reality of Indian politics where the saffron party is empowering itself at the expense of beating its rivals 24 to 7 for 365 days. Politics never ends at the party headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Road in the national capital.

AAP, the saffron party’s bete noire in the national capital, is perhaps going through its toughest stretch yet as it has witnessed the departure of some high-profile leaders and media-savvy faces from Punjab who have been members of the Upper House. AAP may shrug this off, saying these leaders have no grassroots connections and cannot even win a panchayat election in Punjab or Delhi, but the truth is that they helped popularize the party, which was just another group of activists, when it took off in the first half of the last decade.

A lot has changed since then, with the AAP coming to power in the Union Delhi region three times and also taking over the reins of the larger and strategically important border state of Punjab. The party’s rise to power in both these states was not due to years of grassroots political work or an earth-shattering agitation, but thanks to the crucial communication skills of its leaders, otherwise novices in the shaky fields of realpolitik. The party has remained confident in the strong character of its leaders, including flawed ones, and so it remains to be seen whether AAP can still shrug off the debilitating effects of the departure of its vocal leaders.

The reasons given by those who defected for the change are ridiculous: They say the party has strayed from its basic principles and no longer provides space for honest workers. This is despite the fact that members of the Upper House of Parliament with little political experience regretting the missed opportunities of honest workers sound nothing but lies. The MPs also failed to give specific examples of how the AAP has strayed from its core principles.

The BJP has no direct use either in Delhi, where it is in power, or in Punjab, where the party is not a major player, but it would love to paint a picture of its biggest enemy in the national capital disintegrating. It can also send the signal that no one is safe from poaching; big or small, ally or rival. The party is a long-term player with a core Hindutva ideology and is confident of winning everyone over to its side. If it can set the slogan of “Congress-mukt Bharat”, it can rightly target smaller players.

The AAP government in Punjab may not be facing any immediate threat but the development has alarmed it. He will reshape his strategy if he wants to stay politically relevant in the border state where policy is mostly determined by the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress. If he sees himself as a rival of the BJP, he will also need to be strengthened ideologically. Either way, AAP will have to work on its fundamentals if it wants to remain a viable political alternative in the country.