All hail emperor Kejriwal: Yogendra, Bhushan fate sealed in AAP leader's diwan-i-khas

Soon after he came to power in Delhi after the Assembly elections in 2013, Arvind Kejriwal was seemingly inspired by Mughal emperor Jahangir.

Like Jahangir, chief minister Kejriwal decided to start a system of personal hearing and held a janata darbar in the second week of January 2014. But unruly crowd, a huge rush and mismanagement forced Kejriwal to flee from the darbar and seek refuge on the roof of the secretariat.

Since Kejriwal is a quick learner, one would have thought that his fascination with medieval practices and court intrigues ended with the botched darbar.

But, it hasn’t. In a few days, Kejriwal will hold another meeting in his diwan-i-aam to seal a decision he has already taken in his diwan-i-khas: to expel rival leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.

Though the AAP has been maintaining the charade of talks and backroom parleys to keep the party united, Kejriwal has almost made up his mind to throw out his one-time wazirs (advisers) from the party.

According to reports, Kejriwal has had enough of the two dissident leaders. And like another monarch, Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts, he hasn’t stopped shouting ‘off with their heads’ since the 4 March meeting of the party in which it was decided to remove Yadav and Bhushan from the PAC, the equivalent of Mughal era meeting in diwan-i-khas.

Since then, efforts have been in public to bury the differences. But in private, arrangements are being made to eject the two senior leaders. According to the ANI, Kejriwal is adamant about ensuring the removal of the two senior leaders from AAP’s national executive.

Kejriwal has also refused to take any call related to party work as long as the duo is in the party, the news agency reported .

In his single-minded devotion to the ‘remove dissenters’ mission, Kejriwal has refused to listen to party volunteers. Even party Lokpal Admiral (retd) L Ramdas has reportedly failed to broker a truce. Party insiders say talks have collapsed and there is no solution in sight. Now, the messy business is likely to be conducted in the party’s diwan-i-aam, the 28 March meeting of the national executive of the party. The decision to oust Yadav and Kejriwal is likely to be put to vote at the meeting of the executive, the larger decision-making body of the party.

Kejriwal has been forced to invite all the stake holders to the diwan-i-aam because of his inability to enforce the decision taken by the smaller, more private council. When Yadav and Bhushan were removed from the PAC, Kejriwal had hoped, as Mayank Gandhi later argued in his blog, that the dissenters would leave on their own after the humiliation.

But Yadav and Bhushan decided not only to hang on but also started a campaign to enlist the support of AAP volunteers and state units, whose members would have a decisive role in the national executive. Since some of the issues raised by the duo — one-person-one-post, expansion in other states, internal democracy — found resonance in many other state units, expelling the two senior leaders summarily has become difficult for Kejriwal.

But, the two rival factions have been working on the sidelines to ensure that the majority in the national executive supports them. The backroom intrigues, like the buildup to the PAC meet in the first week of March, have also turned ugly.

Two days ago, Ashok Talwar, a member of the party’s national executive, complained to the party about a ‘conspiracy’ against Kejriwal. In a letter to Kejriwal, he alleged that some leaders had invited him for ‘informal talks’ before the 28 March meeting. In response, Yadav tweeted that rumours and false invites are being circulated in his name.

Over the past few weeks, Kejriwal has attempted also to take some sting out of the duo’s campaign. Soon after returning from Bangalore, where he had gone for getting treated for chronic cough and high blood sugar, Kejriwal announced that the party will not remain confined to Delhi. It will contest elections in other states too, an argument put forward initially by Yadav and endorsed by several state units.

It is clear that Kejriwal’s mind is made up. He won’t tolerate Yadav and Bhushan in the party. His only challenge now is to ensure that the decision is taken ‘democratically’ at the meeting in his diwan-i-aam and enough ‘incriminating’ evidence — both real and manipulated — is produced to back the decision.

In politics, numbers always favour the man in power. Dissenters and rivals are often ditched by sworn supporters because their rivals have the luxury to coerce, coax, lure, threaten and appease. In the struggle for power, ideology and loyalty can easily be sacrificed for an important position or a better counter offer.

It is unlikely that Yadav and Bhushan will prevail over Kejriwal on 26 March. From his diwan-i-aam, Kejriwal is likely to emerge as the undisputed monarch of his party.