The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), India’s most successful startup, is on the verge of implosion. Consider these facts. The AAP has 11 Members of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House).
Of these, Swati Maliwal once seen as AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s closest political aide, has publicly broken links with the party and called him names after she alleged he got her beaten up at his official residence by his personal assistant Bhibhav Kumar. Raghav Chaddha, the party’s Punjab-in-charge, is now all set to do a stint in public leadership at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University. Chaddha could have learnt real life leadership chops if he had continued to battle for his party as it faces an existential crisis after its crippling loss in Delhi.
But Chaddha had earlier stayed away for weeks in London when Kejriwal was arrested and sent to jail. Chaddha had at that time said he was getting his eye “treated” in London - a luxury very few Aam Aadmi (commoners) have in India. Harbhajan Singh, the cricketer who Kejriwal sent to the Rajya Sabha, has not even bothered to campaign for the party, let alone do any work for the party inside and outside Parliament.
Ashok Kumar Mittal, another leader sent to Parliament by Kejriwal, has been signalling his anger and rebellion for a while. Almost a year ago it went unnoticed when he withdrew his amendments to the Financial Bill on the floor of the House. The official proceedings of that incident on video is with Gulf News.
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