Inside story: Why Arvind Kejriwal bent over backwards to pacify Kumar Vishwas

Losing a mass leader could have almost meant the end of the road for the AAP.

Arvind Kejriwal is not the one who usually buckles when there is dissent in the party. The case of Yogendra Yadav and Prashanth Bhushan are examples and the rift with the two leaders continues as Kejriwal remains adamant. What then happened in the case of Kumar Vishwas?

Why did Kejriwal go out of his way to pacify Vishwas who revolted against the Aam Admi Party's leadership? Kejriwal along with his deputy Manish Sisodia not just visited Vishwas late Wednesday night, but also sipped tea with him before pacifying him to stay. Not just that, Kejriwal even described Vishwas as his brother on Twitter.

Kejriwal can't afford any more losses:

The AAP is going through one of its worst phases. With big losses in the MCD elections, Punjab and Goa, the party is in disarray. The leadership is being questioned and course correction has been sought. Vishwas on the other hand is a good asset for the AAP.

Referred to as Kaviraj, he is the one who usually lifts the morale of the party workers when they are down. He has good organisational skills and can rally the party workers with ease. Unlike Yadav and Bhushan, Vishwas is a mass leader and the AAP could not afford to lose him.

Taking all this into account, Kejriwal was in no position to lose him. Losing a mass leader could have almost meant the end of the road for the AAP. With parties like Swaraj India coming up, the AAP realised that it would have more challengers and the vote banks are similar. Retaining Vishwas and bending his back over was the best option for Kejriwal.

Emotional man:

Vishwas is considered to be very emotional by nature. All it took was a visit by Kejriwal, some sentimental tweets and statements and also being promised the Rajasthan in-charge post to pacify Vishwas. He had been complaining for the past four months about being sidelined. He had also not spoken to Kejriwal in 90 days.

Apart from being emotional, Vishwas also has an ego. He would have felt good that Kejriwal and Sisodia personally visited and pacified him. Kaviraj as he is referred to as, Vishwas is considered to be an emotional poet.

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