Aazmi departure from AAP: Is dissent and `inner party democracy’ in jeopardy?

While leaders like Subhash Ware and Mayank Gandhi chose to resign late last year citing similar reasons, Aazmi waited, possibly hoping for an olive branch from the party counting on his minority status.

Former founding member of Aam Aadmi Party Ilyas Azmi. (ANI photo)

When Ilyas Aazmi, one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), called it quits on Monday, it was the eighth such exit of National Executive members from the party over the past one year. A string of departures – expulsions and resignations put together – started with senior leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav who were expelled for anti-party activities soon after Arvind Kejriwal made a comeback as Delhi chief minister in February 2015.

All the National Executive members who left the party, have levelled similar allegations — that Kejriwal is `autocratic’ and runs ‘a one-man show’. Detractors, including Aazmi, have called those remaining in the party `stooges’ of Kejriwal and have cited the lack of ‘inner democracy’ as the prime reason for their quitting.

Party insiders point out that this is not the first time Aazmi has talked of quitting: at the time of the 2014 lok Sabha elections, Aazmi allegedly often used the threat to seek a ticket of his choice. Senior functionaries maintained that in the reconstitution of the National Executive and the Political Affairs Committee last week Aazmi was dropped because of his lack of participation and performance in the bodies over the past year.

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Aazmi’s inertia in the party over the last six months was indicative of his imminent exit but why he waited until the election of the new National Executive — the highest decision making body in the party — is an unanswered question. While leaders like Subhash Ware and Mayank Gandhi chose to resign late last year citing similar reasons, Aazmi waited, possibly hoping for an olive branch from the party counting on his minority status. Instead, the party included two other minority faces in the National Executive and one in the PAC, entirely ignoring Aazmi.

The former BSP MP admits that he had stopped attending party meetings over the past six months and had begun planning an ‘alternative’ in Uttar Pradesh where he has spent all his political life.

The departures of several leaders might have exposed fissures within the party but they have also left it more cohesive and better disciplined. Kejriwal has managed to stand tall but whether the lack of dissent in the party will signal the silent death of ‘inner democracy’ is something to watch out.

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