For Kejriwal, it’s not organisation but perception that wins elections. No wonder the party never had a blueprint for organisation building

Rajesh Gupta is not a prominent national leader, but he is a two-term MLA. On Saturday, he joined the BJP after being part of AAP for more than a decade; at the time of leaving AAP, he was the vice president of the Delhi unit. He became emotional and almost cried when he joined the BJP. He said, “I was a loyal soldier of the AAP and worked diligently, but today I am distraught as nobody was willing to listen to me. Every leader in the party showed helplessness, and I felt ‘used and thrown’.” The term ‘use and throw’ caught my imagination, and with the advantage of hindsight, I can say now Rajesh Gupta is correct.

I have known him since I was active in AAP. When I contested the parliament elections in 2014 from Chandni Chowk, he was the one who took care of one of the assembly constituencies and did a fabulous job. Later, he contested elections and won, becoming an MLA. He has a sharp political brain and could have become an asset for the party, but now he has joined the BJP. For a political party, losing a leader like him, who is young and energetic and is ambitious and wants to do well in politics, is a huge loss, but I know for sure nobody in the party is worried, as the party, over a period of time, has stopped caring for its workers and leaders, and one is relevant till the party thinks he is useful. It does not care for the hours and time a leader or worker has given to the party; there is no consideration for the sacrifices they have made for the party. Utility is the only premium, and utility is an extremely subjective affair. It all depends on one man, that is, Kejriwal. Nobody matters, and nobody has any say. The party begins with him and ends with him.

Kejriwal is both the creator and destroyer of the party. He is fatalistically individualistic and does not believe in collective leadership or building a team. Unlike him, Modi likes to build his team and trust his team members absolutely and is not known for ‘using and throwing’. He is a tough taskmaster, but at the same time, he also goes out of his way to protect his team. There is a long list of people who have been working with him since he became the chief minister of Gujarat. In the government, many have received numerous extensions, and in the party, many have been appointed to plum posts. Therefore, Modi undoubtedly enjoys the loyalty of a band of leaders in the party and officers in the bureaucracy and government who are willing to do anything for him, and they all know that Modi will not abandon them when they are in crisis. Modi is a formidable force in Indian politics, not only because he is a charismatic leader with a large mass base, but also because he has built a formidable team that is willing to go the extra mile without feeling insecure, knowing that if they fail, they will not be dismissed.

To start with, Kejriwal had a great team. It was a great combination of young and experienced people. Many of them were prominent figures in their respective fields before joining AAP. If AAP was seen as an all-India alternative, a new hope in Indian politics that could cleanse the political system from the scourge of corruption and create an alternate political culture, and build a new socio-political edifice which could take the country to new heights in the future, it was not only because of Kejriwal but also the galaxy of honest leaders with impeccable records around him. Kejriwal was fortunate to have them all, but over time, he squandered everything. This happened for two fundamental reasons.

One, he suffered from an extreme sense of insecurity. It is true that in his team, many of them were dominant personalities with very strong opinions on various subjects and were not willing to easily surrender their views. But it was this quality that made them public figures, and they were widely respected. Kejriwal, therefore, had to be large-hearted to keep them together and utilise their talents for rebuilding the nation. It is the hallmark of a great leader not to get intimidated by the talents of his own team. Mahatma Gandhi had a galaxy of extraordinarily talented leaders in his team, but he knew how to keep them united despite their differing opinions. Kejriwal was no Gandhi, and he felt intimidated by his own team members. He let them leave one by one.

Second, he does not believe in building an organisation. The RSS today is such a behemoth because building an organisation is its core value. It is a matter of great research why the RSS did not split even once in its hundred-plus years of existence. The Congress could sustain the onslaught of the British Empire and could attain independence because Gandhi turned Congress into a mass movement with the help of a great organisation. Kejriwal had no such ambition. For him, it is not the organisation but the perception that wins elections. No wonder the party never had a blueprint for organisation building. And in the process, the party shrank into one man, where the rest were mere props; they remained in the party so long as they were useful.

It is not surprising that, in the last five years, many leaders who thought themselves indispensable and were extremely powerful have disappeared into thin air, either being totally marginalised or leaving the party in deep hopelessness. Rajesh is not the only one. He survived for almost 12 years, a miracle, unlike many who, in the very recent past, were the eyes and ears of Kejriwal, and today nobody knows where they are. It is tragic but true. Kejriwal should know that a captain is as good as his team.