Biggest threat to AAP is not Congress or BJP; it is AAP itself

After an unprecedented win over the BJP in the recent Delhi Assembly elections, AAP is now grappling with a rift that may affect its future prospects in Delhi.

Just days after the party emerged victorius in the Delhi Assembly elections, AAP is on a shaky ground now with reports of rift within the party being exposed.

How it all began

It all began when AAP leader Prashant Bhushan wrote a letter to the National Executive raising questions on the transparency within the party. In his letter he said that AAP had become a 'one-person centric' campaign and that swaraj was lacking in the party.

In the letter written ahead of its National Executive meet last week, Admiral Ramdas, a former Navy chief and the party's internal Lokpal, also said that AAP must make efforts to become a genuinely gender-sensitive party as neither its PAC nor the Delhi government led by it has any woman members.

Ramdas had even said that there was a breakdown in communications and mutual trust amongst the topmost leadership of the party

Shortly after this AAP leader Yogendra Yadav denied any reports of rift within the party and said that such reports were fabricated.

Internal rift not a first time experience for AAP

This is however not the first time that the AAP is experiencing an internal rift. Earlier too MLA Vinod Kumar Binny, who joined the BJP this year, was expelled from AAP in a disciplinary action and his membership from the party too was terminated. Binny had then alleged that there were only a few members in the party who were a part of the decision making process.

Former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi too had quit the AAP in 2014 citing differences with the party leadership. She too later on joined the BJP this year. While quitting AAP, Ilmi had said: "AAP lacks inner-democracy. We fight against cronyism but we have a crony clique which runs the party and takes impulsive decisions which we learn about later."

AAP member Shanti Bhushan too earlier this year said that 'Arvind Kejriwal had compromised on the party's objective to establish clean politics in the country.' He too had said that AAP lacked internal democracy.

AAP's biggest threat is not BJP but AAP itself

While the AAP claims that the biggest threat to the party maybe the BJP, we think it is not another political party but AAP itself. Internal rift out in the open may hurt the party's image that it managed to resurrect during the assembly elections.

What is worse is that the party doesn't seem to learn from its past mistakes. The party had said publicly that any difference within the party would be solved internally but with the latest development it looks like the cracks in the party just got deeper.

The people of Delhi gave AAP a complete mandate this time. AAP must learn and must focus on solving the differences amongst themselves without hurting the party's image.

If the internal rift within the AAP is not sorted out soon, AAP's celebration on winning the assembly elections may backfire soon.