AAP and the strange world of ideology-free politics

No one in their right mind could have imagined that the 22 vows spelt out by B R Ambedkar after embracing Buddhism in 1956 could cost a Dalit a seat in the council of ministers 66 years later; that too when there is a rush to appropriate the architect of the Constitution.

But that is the fate that befell Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajendra Gautam in the first week of October.

A minister in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, Gautam had to resign after the BJP whipped up a campaign around his presence at an event where Dalits renounced Hinduism to join Buddhism.

Videos purportedly showing Gautam ridiculing Hindu deities were shared on social media by the saffron party.

Read | Gujarat AAP chief briefly detained over video on Modi

The row came as a bolt from the blue for the AAP, which is looking to make inroads in poll-bound Gujarat through a high-decibel campaign led by its supremo, Kejriwal.

Kejriwal made the party machinery send a curt message to the media: “Delhi CM and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal is extremely displeased with minister Rajendra Pal Gautam”.

The die was cast and Gautam was gone. AAP’s action against Gautam – for repeating the vows of Ambedkar – comes even as the party’s government deftly plays the Dalit card whenever it suits it.

Installing the photographs of Ambedkar in Delhi government offices, a two-hour musical on the Dalit icon and Kejriwal inviting a Dalit family to his residence being the prominent examples.

No tears were shed for Gautam in the AAP. Many in the party say Gautam had to go because Kejriwal was facing backlash in Gujarat.

The AAP supremo was called anti-Hindu and posters of Kejriwal with a skull cap emerged in the state. The party did not want to antagonise upper castes for Dalits who form a miniscule 7% in the state and have some impact in around a dozen Assembly seats.

In other words, Gautam became collateral damage in the poll battle for a party that is alien to ideology and puts a premium on election victories.

“All programmes of the AAP are tilted towards the BJP. In a way, the BJP is much more transparent but the AAP is like an iceberg. The AAP is a mirror image of the BJP,” Ashok Bharti, Chairman of National Confederation of Dalit and Adivasi Organisations, told DH.

Many have arrived at a similar assessment. Recently, Cambridge University professor Shruti Kapila, a perceptive chronicler of Indian politics, termed the AAP a “lazy and guilt-free version of the BJP” in her column for a news website.

Since the India Against Corruption movement birthed the AAP, the party has cultivated a strategic silence on some of the most burning issues of the day, allowing it to wade through the murky waters of the country’s politics with its convenient welfarism.

AAP leaders claim that they cannot fall into the BJP trap in an election state and are confident that they could explain it to the Dalit constituency later.

But here’s a question: would the party sacrifice Gautam if Punjab or Delhi elections were round the corner?

In Punjab, Dalits constitute 31.9% of the population while in Delhi, the figure is around 15% – in both cases, a decisive factor when it comes to vote.

“Displaying photographs of Ambedkar are good. But what did they do for Dalits? Didn’t they promise to make a Dalit Deputy Chief Minister in Punjab?” asks Bharti.

With an “ideology-less” framework, Kejriwal tries to project that the AAP indulges in “politics of work” — like a startup providing services diligently — and does not get bogged down with ideology.

But Deputy CM Manish Sisodia proclaims himself a proud Rajput while another of Kejriwal’s close aide Atishi decides to do away with her surname Marlena – a mix of Marx and Lenin – fearing that she may be mistaken for a Christian. Strangely, some posters in her constituency display her surname as Singh, an assertion of caste identity.

While the middle-class may be taken in by Kejriwal, some of his former colleagues, who do not want to be identified, point out that it is only election and power that matters for the party.

If an election has made Kejriwal and the AAP sacrifice a Dalit leader, Muslims in the national capital received nothing except resounding silence at key times despite having voted overwhelmingly for the AAP.

Kejriwal chanted Hanuman Chalisa on live TV ahead of Delhi election but remained silent when riots broke out in north-east Delhi a week into his victory; he remained mum on anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh even as BJP leaders tried to bait him into saying something.

By now, Kejriwal knows that an ideological stand may not be needed. However, this presents a problem as one cannot move ahead in politics with mere welfarism (lower electricity and water bills) as a poll plank.

For now, though, Kejriwal is comfortable with his experiment. Whether this USP is a masterstroke or a path to political oblivion remains to be seen.