opposing Aam Aadmi Party

Youth for Democracy will now oppose Aam Aadmi Party 21 January 2014 New Delhi: Civil society body Youth for Democracy (Y4D) has decided to formally withdraw its support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The decision has come after an online polling where only about 22 per cent members said the organization should continue to support the AAP whereas about 78 per cent of those who voted said the organization should oppose the said party. An online polling was conducted beginning 17 January. While polling closed in the morning of 19 January, members could still express their opinion to indicate their views. While some members wanted to give the party more time, an overwhelming feeling was that the AAP had drifted from its plank of anti-corruption and could bring in instability at the national level. Most members wanted the AAP to first perform in Delhi and only then aspire for a space in national politics. Their stand on Jammu & Kashmir, absence of an economic policy, leaning towards the Left (Communism) and the latest act by its law minister Somnath Bharti were not appreciated; they could be the reason for such a large number of people voting against AAP. A member put this as “(1)anti national elements in their party, (2) Leftists, Naxalites, (3) Too many NAC affiliates, (4) Minority appeasement, (5) ‘My way or the Highway’ attitude, too self righteous, (6) Rabble rousing, and playing with the sentiments of an already beleaguered Junta, (7) Gap between promises and action on the ground, (8) Indecent haste to jump into the 2014 LS without fulfilling the mandate in Delhi (9) Their ‘internal Clean Chit’ mechanism.” Y4D had participated in the Anna movement and had mobilized support for the group seen on stage in August 2011. Later it formally supported Arvind Kejriwal when he decided to form the AAP. Many Y4D volunteers worked tirelessly to make the AAP a success. Two of the founding members of Y4D Sudesh Verma and Surajit Dasgupta are founding members of the AAP. They subsequently resigned finding that there was no internal democracy in the organization. However, they chose to stay silent and kept supporting AAP for a while since they wanted the AAP to succeed. In his appearance on Times Now after his resignation, Dasgupta said he still considered the party better than the Congress and BJP. But after many members of the organization questioned the support, an opinion poll was conducted to quantify either side of the divide. Y4D’s activities in the social media are only a part of its activism to create awareness about the need for more accountable institutions. It works in the field and has more than a thousand people associated with it actively. The field report has been worse. All of Y4D’s on-field volunteers want that the organization should oppose the AAP. Sudesh Verma and Surajit Dasgupta