EditorialAAP in the dock!

AAP in the dock!

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Manish Sisodia, seen by many as the mainstay of Aam Aadmi Party's government in Delhi and second-in-command of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, stepped down from his post today, saying he wishes to stay away till “the charges are proven false.” The step is indeed a welcome one especially in today's political context in India. In a three-page resignation letter, Sisodia said while there could be a series of cases against him, the allegations are false and politically motivated. “Their target is not me, but Arvind Kejriwal,” he wrote. Sisodia's resignation came less than 48 hours after he was arrested by the CBI in connection with an alleged liquor scam in Delhi. Satyendar Jain, the other arrested AAP minister to resign alongside him, has been in jail for the last eight months on corruption charges. According to AAP, the resignations were not an admission of guilt, but rather a means of facilitating administration. Sisodia was the face of the AAP's overhaul of Delhi schools, which made international headlines.

 

With the addition of Jain and Sisodia, the list of Kejriwal's confidantes who helped lay the groundwork for the party has shrunk even further. Since the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party, the top leadership has left the party for various reasons. Though Jain and Sisodia have not left AAP, their names will be tarnished in the coming days, causing a significant setback to the party.

 

Similar is the situation of the Aam Admi Party in that registered its mark in Union Territory with high note.  Here too, most of the founding members in division as well as Kashmir Division are either left the party or dormant. Most of the new faces who joined the party with much fanfare too have left it one by one throwing a pertinent question for its leadership to find out the reasons that gave it setbacks locally too.

 

On Delhi- level, those who tried to fight corruption in the system at the or local level by becoming prominent members of the AAP either left the party or were accused of corruption, according to the past chronology of events. Here are a few of the well-known names.

 

Prashant Bhushan: Prashant Bhushan, one of the AAP's founding members, was ejected from the party in March 2015.

Yogendra Yadav: Like Bhushan, another founding member of the party, Yadav was expelled in early 2015. Both Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were seen at Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Kumar Vishwas was removed from key positions in the party in 2018. Kejriwal and Vishwas were embroiled in a long-running feud. Vishwas accused Kejriwal of siding with Khalistani elements prior to the Punjab Assembly elections. Kejriwal was also accused by Vishwas of  ‘selling' Rajya Sabha nominations.

Shazia Ilmi: Ilmi was a member of the Aam Aadmi Party's National Executive. She ran in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on the AAP ticket but lost. She later left the party, claiming she was dissatisfied with how it was run. She became a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

 

Kapil Mishra: Once an AAP firebrand, Mishra was best known for strongly opposing the opposition on all grounds. He accused the CM of delaying investigations into a water tanker scam worth 400 crores, and he was expelled from the party's primary membership in 2017. He officially joined the BJP in 2019.

Alka Lamba: A seasoned and contentious politician who joined AAP in December 2014 after leaving Congress. Then again, who doesn't?

 

All six of the leaders mentioned above had the potential to rise to positions of power in the cabinet. They were, however, either thrown out or forced to leave the party.

Despite this, Delhi's Chief Minister continues to hold no department. If he does not hold any portfolio, his name will not be mentioned in any governance-related controversy. He can make claims, engage in national politics, and travel the country holding rallies for state elections, as he did in Gujarat and Punjab. However, when it comes to facing governance allegations, Kejriwal's hands have been clean.

 

Northlines
Northlines
The Northlines is an independent source on the Web for news, facts and figures relating to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and its neighbourhood.

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