'Kejriwal was not ready for a compromise'

INTERVIEW

Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and eminent sociologist Anand Kumar actively participated in the historic movement of Jaiprakash Narayan and has taken active role in the rise of the AAP. He has been one of the most polite faces of the party since the beginning of AAP and everyone was surprised when Arvind Kejriwal was seen abusing him and Ajit Jha in an audio-sting. He told Anil Sinha of Deccan Herald that he is not ready to quit even after being thrown out of the part y national executive.

How do you see the entire drama which has been played out during the last one month in the Aam Aadmi Party?

I see it as different phases of the politics of a movement which had started under the leadership of  Anna Hazare.  The first phase was characterised by the deceit on the part of the government on the issue of Lokpal-Ramleela maidan, assurance by parliament and later developments. The government deceived the people of the country and the AAP was born to carry forward the struggle for a truly democratic polity.  In each of the phases, we see a section of the leaders that refuses to move forward.

We all have seen how the party fought against the prevailing form of politics and won a state.  This was the victory of new politics. The party brought about an awakening among the people about their power.  People had accepted a party which was different in its mobilisation techniques. Here, there was no big money and no muscle power. People expressed faith in transparent and healthy democracy. 

 Now, some people do not want to move ahead. They want to stay back.  They want to remain in Delhi, to limit them to a small region and wait till they showcase their model of development.  Others in the party want to move ahead and fulfill the aspirations of the people across the country. The movement has to spread, they believe.  

But the people who are opposing you in the party are portraying it as a conflict of ideology.

The current leadership of the party is deliberately distorting the fact and trying to give a different colour to the crisis. In reality, they want to hide the fact that they are not willing to fulfill the promises the party has made to the people of Delhi, the people of the country. There is no ideological conflict. Every one of us believes in the ideology of Swaraj, the Swaraj of Gandhi. This ideology requires self-discipline. It prescribes that you fight injustice through democratic means and people should keep direct vigilance over the administration.  

Some are saying that the current crisis in the party has impacted its credibility among the masses. How do you assess it?

It is not the question of the prospect of a party. It is a question of people’s faith. The common people are upset over what is happening, they do not want this experiment to die. In fact, they are keen that we should resolve our inner-party problems.  They want this politics to grow.  They are really disappointed over what is going on in the party.  

You and Ajit Jha were part of the negotiations for the rapprochement between Yogendra Yadav-Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal. What actually went wrong in the process?

We wanted to resolve it through negotiations and did our best. Yadav and Bhushan fully cooperated with us. Yadav even spent hours and hours till late night to find a solution. But Kejriwal was not ready to accept them. He was not even satisfied with the decision of sacking the two from the political affairs committee. He wanted to oust them from the national executive and from all the bodies and ultimately from theparty.

What is the way forward? Will you people form a new party?

The movement is now standing on a big social base. It has created a phenomenal unity among the people. This unity has defied all the barriers based on caste, religion, region or gender. The people of Delhi have showed this unity. People across the country want this experiment to go on.  We have invited volunteers from across the country on April 14. The conference has been named Swaraj-Samvad(dialogue on Swaraj). Volunteers have to decide what should be done to move ahead.   The party does not belong to a person, it belongs to volunteers.