India's Common Man's Party stumbles, to Christians' chagrin

Just weeks ago, celebration swept through New Delhi, India, as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or Common Man’s Party, won a landslide victory, crushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and winning all but three seats in Delhi’s 70-member legislature.

Committed to fighting injustice, bribery, and graft, the upstart AAP is perceived by many as a white knight in an otherwise corrupt governmental landscape. With a broom as its election symbol, the AAP illustrates its mission to “clean the filth which has permeated our government and our legislature,” according to its official website. Since its nascence in 2012, the AAP’s sweep to power has been swift and sensational.

But disillusionment lingers as the party of shining idealism appears to be just like all the rest. In recent days, internal strife has sliced through the AAP’s gauzy political fairy tale, attracting ridicule from rivals.

This past week, local television stations leaked secret recordings of AAP headman Arvind Kejriwal accusing two men, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, of working against him. Bhushan and Yadav, Kejriwal’s closest allies since the party’s inception, were booted from the group on Saturday. The men claim the decision-making meeting was a sham in which they were booed and heckled, their supporters kept out by bouncers hired by the Kejriwal camp. Yadav called it a “murder of democracy,” and Bhushan accused the group of resorting “to the kind of hooliganism that other political parties display.”

The AAP has withered beneath the ensuing media spotlight. Seizing the opportunity to smear a recent and serious threat, India’s established politicians joined the mudslinging. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi decried the AAP as “corrupt” and “immoral” via Twitter. BJP’s Nalin Kohli said the Common Man’s Party routinely “tries to level false allegations against somebody else to cover up for its own nonperformance or quest for power.”

The New York Times reports Kejriwal is seen as a savior figure to the young, lower-middle class and slum-dwellers, whose lives are pocked by petty corruption. According to the report, government-initiated bribery frequently victimizes rickshaw drivers and street hawkers, laborers who rarely possess work permits and depend on the law’s blind eye for survival.

A core distinctive listed on the AAP’s website emphasizes gender equity and fair treatment of minority groups: “Aam Aadmi Party is committed to the principles of justice for all.” In the wake of recent attacks on Christian churches in the Delhi area, Kejriwal’s administration appears to be an ally to religious minorities.

“Some people are trying to stir up politics of hatred. We will not tolerate this,” Kejriwal told Reuters. The Common Man’s Party offers a measure of security to Christians in India and its demise could spell heightened persecution at the hands of Hindu nationalists.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.