Within few days of Arvind Kejriwal becoming the chief
minister of Delhi
The typical feature of these posters was the presence of a
messianic sort of Arvind Kejriwal (but in common man outfits) photograph covering
half of the space with the other half having text trying to establish Kejriwal
as the only deliverer – from bad – and almost everything in the existing system
was bad – and the only answer was Arvind Kejriwal.
That was a clear cut attempt to induce a political cult
around Arvind Kejriwal. It may be an entirely different matter that who all
were behind such exercises (the exercises still seeing efforts) but it was
clear that it had acceptance (and thrust) of Mr. Arvind Kejriwal.
And that love for ‘the cult of Arvind Kejriwal’ is undoing
the most recent (and successfully launched) political experiment of India
This ‘cultist’ mentality was opposite to what all AAP and
Arvind Kejriwal had promised to be.
AAP was born out of an anti-corruption movement by the
civil society, and though had opportunist elements since the beginning, had
sincere and independent members as well.
And the fad for the ‘Kejriwal cult’ pushed each of them
out of the party. The genuine members with an intent to do something left on
their own.
The names that had got into the company for selfish
political reasons but could not stand the Kejriwal style were forced out.
The outburst by Shanti Bhushan, the senior most and the
founder member of AAP, against Arvind Kejriwal could have been in making for
days. Yes, Bhushans are not to be kept in the league of Captain Gopinath or other
pre-AAP members who left the anti-corruption movement due to Arvind Kejriwal, but
being from the central group that formed strategized the movement and that
formed the party, they carry weight.
And the outburst by Shanti Bhushan only reinforces that
efforts are still on to make AAP synonymous with Arvind Kejriwal and AAP’s politics
with Arvind Kejriwal style of politics where the line begins and ends with
Arvind Kejriwal.
