AAP lessons from defectors who matter little

Few in Punjab will feel any sympathy for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for losing seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha members to the BJP's arm-twisting tactics. That's because hardly any of them has any mass support base in the state. Nor has any of them ever raised any serious Punjab issue in the Upper House. It does not matter to most people in the state which party they join.In fact, there was palpable resentment over their selections for the premier positions. The top political offices were handed over to them for considerations other than merit or keeping in view Punjab's interests. The AAP has often been criticised for its controversial choices.Why businessmen were chosen to represent Punjab in Delhi is well-known. But moneybags come with associated risks. They put profit and personal interests over everything else. And they are vulnerable. Not many business people in the country can afford to displease a government at the Centre, leave alone the Modi-Shah dispensation, which is known for using the ED-CBI might to achieve its political ends.The BJP badly needed a clear-cut majority in the Rajya Sabha and now it has got that. A Mittal, a Gupta or a Sahney caving in to pressure should not come as a surprise. Their joining the BJP may not significantly improve the party's prospects in Punjab.Agreed, every political party needs funds to run its affairs, but there are more honourable and acceptable ways to raise money, like voluntary donations. During the last Assembly elections, overseas Punjabis overwhelmingly filled the AAP coffers, hoping the party would come to power and arrest the state's continuous decline. That this has not happened has caused disappointment among its one-time well-wishers.There are many talented and qualified people available in Punjab who AAP could have roped in for the high office. But the party chose loyalists like Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak. Their pre- and post-election shady dealings in Punjab are widely known and disapproved of. Their switch to the BJP will not win them any more admirers. Defections, voluntary or under pressure, are not generally appreciated.The first lesson that the AAP leadership can learn from Friday's dramatic setback is not to trust people with business interests and barter government positions for financial gain. If at all their expertise is required, it can safely be in an advisory role. Despite promoting capitalist cronies, the BJP leadership does not visibly involve an Adani or an Ambani in decision-making nor rewards them with offices.The AAP top brass could not have done a greater disservice to the party and its government in Punjab than encouraging blatant interference in the running of the state administration by Delhi-based "experts". The imposition of "outsiders" has for long been unwelcome and they have done nothing to stop it.Having little work to do in Delhi after the 2025 electoral loss, both Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia spend a lot of time in Punjab, presiding over government-organised functions. They may be well-meaning, but Punjabis in general disapprove of the unelected deciding or promoting state policies.The credit for the party's victory in the last election partly goes to Bhagwant Mann. Partly it was a voter backlash over decades of misrule by the successive Congress and Akali Dal-BJP governments.The unprecedented win was not because of any clever politicking by the likes of Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak. Faced now with an existential electoral battle next year, the party should not repeat mistakes it made the last time. After Delhi, it cannot afford to lose Punjab.The second lesson, therefore, is to resist the temptation to run Punjab from Delhi. Instead, the leadership should strengthen the party structure at the grassroots level, get rid of criminal-minded MLAs and ministers, like Laljit Bhullar, and take decisions in consultation with local functionaries.A regular feature of the Opposition attack on the AAP government is that it has placed Punjab's fortunes in the hands of non-Punjabis and that Punjab money is used to fund AAP's expansion in other states. The frequent use of state helicopters sends wrong signals. All this must stop in the overhaul process if the party hopes to stay in reckoning.The third and last lesson that particularly the AAP supremo needs is to rethink his own personality and working style. Why is it that so many have left AAP since its formation some 14 years ago? Right from Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav down to his once blue-eyed boy, Raghav Chadha — obviously, all of them cannot be wrong. Some have blamed Kejriwal. Others like Raghav Chadha say it is no longer the party they had joined. The list of quitters is pretty long.Those who have stayed back and stand firmly with the leadership have enough time before the coming elections to set the house in order. Fortunately for the party, none of the defecting MPs can do real damage. Their high-profile, headline-grabbing departure may dent the party's image in the short term, but it will cause no long-term political harm.Rather, the public perception of the performance of the Punjab government will have a greater bearing on the outcome of the 2027 election. The ground reality of daily life will influence votes.It is the lived experience of many people visiting government offices that the level of corruption has not declined under AAP. When a political opponent makes this kind of allegation, people may take it lightly. But if a former cricketer like Pulkit Sharma talks of bribery in land registration, the charge cannot be trashed easily. Illegal mining too continues as before, though there is some check on drugs and gangsters.The party originated from the movement against corruption. Driven by an idealistic dream of changing the state of affairs, many had left well-paid jobs to first join the movement and then AAP. What went wrong is a matter of introspection for party functionaries at every level. They should not dismiss criticism lightly but give serious thought to the issues that public-spirited citizens and political opponents raise.

AAP lessons from defectors who matter little

The party must not trust people with business interests and barter government positions for financial gain

Nirmal Sandhu

AAP lessons from defectors who matter little

The party must not trust people with business interests and barter government positions for financial gain

Nirmal Sandhu

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