The ongoing saga in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is as absorbing because it is different from that of any other political entity. In all these decades as a nation, the closest would be Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress. But Banerjee struggled for well over a decade with the Left cadre on the streets of Kolkata. It was not a movement at all, as the ideology of the Trinamool Congress and the Left were both red. Their fight was for the occupancy of a political space that the Left had been slowly giving up.
It is ironic that AAP had a chief minister even as it is yet to become a party; it is still a movement and a work in progress. Unlike other parties, its anti-corruption platform has no glue of caste or class to keep the supporting planks together, which makes it unique but also gives it an unstable standing. AAP has many bridges to cross.
The Bharatiya Janata Party assiduously built its prime minister, whereas the Delhi chief minister built his party. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has dared to wrench at the core of the party to steer the future course. He might succeed, but only because of the speed with which he has acted.
R Narayanan Ghaziabad
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