The Aam Aadmi Party began with a bang as a unique experiment in participatory politics that captured the public imagination. The party’s downward spiral from 2023 onwards, culminating in the defection of prominent faces to the BJP last fortnight, was a tragedy foretold. The question is whether AAP can emerge from its existential crisis by maintaining its electoral presence in Punjab, Gujarat, Goa, and Delhi in 2027.

Punjab now central to AAP strategy

Punjab is now AAP’s focus, given that six of the seven Rajya Sabha MPs who defected to the BJP are from the state, including the strategists credited with the party’s 2022 victory in Punjab. A thoroughly spooked Arvind Kejriwal, the party supremo, has reached out to the party MLAs. Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and state in charge Manish Sisodia called a meeting of all the AAP legislators in Jalandhar district on April 29. Many of the 92 MLAs were close to defectors Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Kumar Pathak, and more than 60 are said to be vulnerable to overtures from the BJP.

Rumblings within the party are inevitable, following the exit of ex-loyalists, but the most worrying aspect for Arvind Kejriwal is that his leadership skills are being questioned. The IIT alumnus has been the undisputed leader and face of the party since its inception.

Rise of a disruptive political force

The high-voltage excitement generated by AAP’s advent on the electoral scene in 2013 is now all but forgotten. For a brand-new party led by the poster child of everyman ordinariness to secure a 30 per cent vote share was........

© Free Press Journal