Kejriwal’s AAP | Time for reset, reform, recalibration

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has suffered its most severe internal rupture since its inception. On April 24, seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha members, constituting more than two-thirds of the party's strength in the Upper House, merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party. This move, enabled by anti-defection provisions, allowed them to retain their seats in the House. The defectors include Raghav Chadha, who had been in open conflict with the party leadership; Sandeep Pathak, a key strategist behind AAP's 2022 Punjab victory; Ashok Mittal; Swati Maliwal, a long-time associate of Arvind Kejriwal who had distanced herself after alleging assault by Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar; former cricketer Harbhajan Singh; and industrialists Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney.

This exodus represents far more than a numerical loss. Pathak and Chadha brought organisational depth, particularly in Punjab, while the four Punjab-linked members — many with business backgrounds — were vital financiers at a time when AAP grapples with resource constraints following the prolonged liquor policy investigations and its defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections in 2025.

The party appeared unprepared for the scale of the rebellion. Internal negotiations were minimal, and the departure of figures once central to strategy and funding signals deeper structural vulnerabilities. AAP has always been a personality-driven outfit centred on Kejriwal’s appeal as an anti-corruption crusader and governance reformer. Yet personality-centric parties without robust ideological anchors or institutional depth often fracture when the central figure’s control weakens or when second-rung leaders feel sidelined.

This moment raises a question: Is Kejriwal losing grip on AAP? For a formation that rose on promises of transparency and people-centric politics, such an unprecedented split demands urgent introspection. Without deliberate reset, reform, and recalibration, AAP risks fading into the long list of regional experiments that burned brightly before dimming.

Reset: break the inner circle capture

Pathak’s discontent reportedly built over prolonged sidelining after the Delhi setback. Once pivotal to Punjab’s success, he and others felt increasingly marginalised as Kejriwal leaned on a tight group of confidants, including Vijay Nair and Bibhav Kumar. Insiders describe a thickening wall around Kejriwal that has made him less accessible. Communications now pass through multiple filters, eroding the direct personal connect that once defined the party’s early ethos. One departing MP had privately highlighted this issue well before the split, noting how leaders could no longer reach Kejriwal directly.

This coterie culture is not unique to AAP. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, once a formidable force in Uttar Pradesh, saw its influence concentrated in a narrow circle that distanced its broader cadre. Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal in Odisha maintained stability through centralised control but faced questions over succession and renewal. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress navigated family-centric dynamics amid organisational strains. Even within the Congress, over-reliance on a small inner group around the Gandhi family has contributed to periodic organisational drift. In each case, excessive insularity bred resentment and exit.

For AAP, the risk is acute because its origins lie in a mass movement against corruption, not inherited legacy or rigid social arithmetic. The perception of an impenetrable inner circle undermines morale and deters talent. A genuine reset requires Kejriwal to deliberately widen access, revive open consultations, and dismantle barriers that alienate capable leaders. Without this, even loyalists may drift, accelerating the erosion of control.

Reform: restore institutional democracy

AAP lacks the deep historical roots or ideological scaffolding of the BJP, which blends organisational machinery with Hindutva philosophy capable of sustaining it beyond any single leader, or the Congress, with its century-old legacy, despite current challenges. AAP’s strength has been issue-based mobilisation — anti-corruption, education, health, and governance — but it remains overwhelmingly person-centric. The once-regular meetings of the Political Action Committee have become infrequent. Organisational bodies function sporadically. This vacuum leaves the party vulnerable when the central leader faces setbacks.

Decentralisation is critical. State units, particularly in Punjab, where AAP holds power under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, must gain real autonomy in decision-making and candidate selection. Reviving internal democracy, regular elections to posts, transparent deliberations, and space for dissent, would build resilience. Compare this with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, which draws sustenance from Mulayam Singh Yadav’s legacy and Yadav-Muslim social engineering, allowing Akhilesh Yadav to inherit and adapt the structure. AAP has no equivalent fallback. Turning it family-centric would contradict its foundational anti-dynasty rhetoric and likely accelerate fragmentation, as its base was never built on bloodlines.

Kejriwal must invest in building a second and third generation of leaders. Today, among leaders of Kejriwal’s generation, only two seem to be truly working actively: Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. Currently, only Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj command notable acceptability in Delhi beyond Kejriwal, while in Punjab, Mann stands prominent but isolated. 

The exodus has spotlighted this leadership deficit. Without structural reform, AAP risks the fate of other personality-driven outfits that collapse or shrink once the founder’s aura weakens. Institutional mechanisms would allow the party to outlast individual setbacks and convert governance experiments into lasting political capital.

Recalibration: prioritise Delhi over remote control

AAP must now recalibrate priorities sharply. After the 2025 Delhi defeat, it sits in Opposition in its core bastion. Continuing remote management of Punjab from Delhi risks further discontent. The Mann government already navigates growing pressures ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. The departing Punjab-linked MPs bring influence in organisation and candidate selection, which the BJP can leverage to widen fault lines.

Recent developments underscore the dangers of overextension. Blaming ‘Operation Lotus’ in press conferences garners limited sympathy in today’s electoral marketplace. Punjab, with its distinct dynamics of regional pride, farmer issues, and community sentiments, will not respond to distant control. 

Remote interference may amplify grievances that rivals can exploit. The wiser course is to empower the Punjab unit and Mann’s government with genuine independence while Kejriwal focuses on rebuilding AAP’s base in Delhi. 

Local issues — water, power, education, and health delivery — remain AAP’s proven terrain. Reconnecting with Delhi’s urban poor and middle classes through ground-level work, rather than high-decibel national posturing, offers a path to revival. Overstretch has diluted focus; recalibration towards core strengths can prevent further erosion. 

A crisis is growing within AAP in Punjab, and it is not simply about fears of an organisational split. The real challenge lies in the rising discontent among the people of Punjab against the AAP government. If the Punjab government begins to weaken before the 2027 Assembly polls, the political damage could be difficult to repair. At this moment, only a sincere recalibration of AAP’s Punjab strategy can help contain the drift.

Sayantan Ghosh is the author of The Aam Aadmi Party: The Untold Story of a Political Uprising and Its Undoing. X: @sayantan_gh.)

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH).