AAP is looking to sink in Punjab polls
In April, a survey done by HuffPost-CVoter in Punjab suggested a highly favourable sentiment for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and predicted 94-100 seats for the party out of a total of 117. Political observers may have disputed the numbers but there was a broad agreement that the AAP was ahead of its rivals in the state.
Everything was going smoothly but then suddenly the party started to get rocked by one controversy after another, ranging from kickbacks to desertions. This has the potential of sinking the AAP's boat in Punjab. As the AAP went into damage control after the Sandeep Kumar sex scandal, fresh trouble was brewing for the party.
Party MLA from Bijwasan, colonel Devinder Sehrawat, has now accused other AAP leaders of exploiting women in poll-bound Punjab in return for political favours.
In his letter to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sehrawat has claimed he had received "disturbing reports" of women being "exploited" in Punjab with promises of election tickets from the party.
The AAP MLA also wrote to anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, stating that the party is facing instances of misconduct and corruption. Though Sehrawat says, for the moment the information he has is "generic", his letter deals in specifics.
He writes, "I am probing reports claiming that party leaders Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak made physical relation with women on the pretext of ensuring party tickets. Similar allegations have been levelled against Dilip Pandey in Delhi. His photographs with women have also appeared in public."
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| Sacked AAP leader Sandeep Kumar. (Photo: PTI) |
Countering these charges Dilip Pandey says, Sehrawat has "no proof to substantiate these claims". Sanjay Singh announced he will file a defamation case against Sehrawat for his comments on party leaders.
But the fact that this allegation is coming from within the party and also that it has come in the backdrop of the Sandeep Kumar sex scandal makes it all the more damning. And if allegations of sleaze were not enough, charges of corruption and bribery too are being levelled against senior party leaders.
The removal of AAP's Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur from his post had brought out the fissures within the party.
In August, Chhotepur was sacked following allegations of seeking bribe for allotting party tickets. Allegedly, in a video clip, Chhotepur is seen accepting money from a party supporter. The AAP leader, who was the party's most visible face in Punjab till then, alleged that he had been framed by insiders.
Significantly Chhotepur did not deny accepting the money and insisted that it was collected for the party fund. Now he charges that he had given Rs 22 lakh, collected as party fund, to Kejriwal, for which no receipt was ever issued.
On September 3, Chhotepur paid obeisance at the Golden Temple and Durgiana Temple. He was accompanied by seven out of the 13 incumbent zonal in-charges of the AAP. On September 6, Chhotepur is slated to begin a state-wide tour, to gauge his supporter's viewpoints, before taking a decision on aligning with any other political party.
Former AAP leader and Coordinator of its Finance Committee, Hardip Singh Kingra raised questions over the collection of party funds for the AAP. He accused a close associate of party leader Durgesh Pathak of taking bribe for arranging a meeting with Pathak.
Contrary to the AAP's claim that the party does not accept cash donation of more than Rs 20,000, Kingra alleged that in March, AAP leader Ashutosh was handed over a "Thailly" containing Rs 16 lakh in cash, at Tarn Taran, by party volunteers. Expelled AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan have launched the Swaraj Abhiyan and are expected to announce a new political party by October 2.
Rebel AAP MP, Dharamvira Gandhi too has recently launched a political front. Navjot Singh Sidhu, whom the AAP tried to bring into its fold, is also set to launch his own party along with hockey player-turned-politician Pargat Singh and the Bains brothers. If all of them get together then they may ruin the AAP's electoral chances.
After more than a year in power, in Delhi, the AAP is facing up to the reality of realpolitik and its pitfalls. In 2014 there was the novelty factor to the AAP. They being the new kids on the block there were no allegations of sleaze or kickbacks nor were there any desertions.
But 2017 seems to be a very different year in the making for the party. In the process of having to establish itself, it had to get rid of three of its ministers in Delhi, as they were accused on three different charges.
Sandeep Kumar was caught in a sex scandal, Asim Ahmed Khan was charged of corruption and Jitender Singh Tomar of cheating and forgery. Now with the political scene heating up and with the AAP trying to look beyond the National Capital Territory, the allegations are coming thick and fast.
The AAP for the moment seems to have gone into a defensive huddle, but probably, what the party is in dire need of is some astute helmsmanship. Else in all probability the AAP may well sink in Punjab... the fabled land of the five rivers.