The AAP for all its moralizing ways has been buffeted by many a storm that wanted to bring down the citadel of their do-good ways. In recent times it started with the accusation of Kumar Gaurav by one of the woman activists of AAP of not going public with the announcement that there was no ‘affair’ going on between them! Then it has been Tomar the Law Minister of having no degree worth the ‘law’ to claim his being an advocate. For this the unfortunate gentleman, Tomar has been arrested in the last few days and then there seems to be another AAP MLA queuing up on the same charge of having no degree worth the value of the paper on which it was printed on.
The last straw on the camel’s back has been the accusation by Somnath Bharati’s wife against him of domestic violence, mental harassment and physical abuse against her and their children. The AAP has tried to get out of this by claiming it is Bharati’s personal matter but that argument will not hold water since a man who aspires to public life should have a clean slate and any muck that is raised against him, splatters on the party to a certain extent.
It is indeed gratifying that the AAP leadership did not blame this on the BJP or the LG accusing them of having turned Somnath Bharati’s wife against him! This trail of personal indiscretions and failings among senior people of the AAP must be making Arvind Kejriwal regret that he does not have Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav around him anymore.
The present bunch in the top echelon of AAP in Delhi is full of those that came in seeking personal benefits and greed akin to carpet baggers who are unable to raise the level of political discourse to any great heights and that is why we find the Delhi government caught up in point-counterpoint issues with the LG & the Centre.
The tit for tat game that is being played by the AAP with the LG can have only one final result – of the AAP being dismissed for not showing the ability to govern Delhi and consequently have President’s rule imposed which will in the long run culminate in Delhi losing Statehood and going back to being a Centrally Administered Region. The AAP has only themselves to blame for bringing the situation to such a pass since as in life it is also true in politics that adamancy and stubbornness are good values but beyond a point they tend to be counter-productive. From the above indiscretions of its senior functionaries the public image has taken a hit and with the lack of governance charge against the AAP, it will be the end of a promising start to a party that wanted to be different.
