Is Vishal Dadlani a Victim of Kejriwal’s Use-and-Throw Politics?

Vishal Dadlani was just another casualty in Kejriwal’s quest for political supremacy, writes Vivek Avasthi.

“When someone disowns an idea or even a person, they give up faith in or love for something or someone they used to call their own.” - Hayley DiMarco, author.

Vishal Dadlani is a heartbroken man, disillusioned by politics and its players now. Disowned and disgraced by his own flock, the music director and singer who, till a day ago, was an ardent and vociferous voice behind the AAP movement and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, has hung up his gloves as far as politics is concerned.

It feel bad that I hurt my Jain friends & my friends @ArvindKejriwal & @SatyendarJain .I hereby quit all active political work/affiliation.

— VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) August 27, 2016

Dadlani was known as the most vocal henchman of Arvind Kejriwal when it came to political attacks and slander on Twitter. Anyone who Kejriwal did not like, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS, or any other political outfit, was the target of Dadlani, who did not mince words in his all-out attacks.

But perhaps Dadlani was following Kejriwal too blindly, without tracing the history and the modus operandi of the maverick leader, who is known for using people left, right and centre before dumping them midway to further his political course. Kejriwal can be termed as the best example of the use-and-throw form of politics in the country.

Remember the 1989 Amitabh Bachchan thriller – Main Azaad Hoon, a remake of the 1941, Frank Capra film – Meet John Doe! In the film, some lumpen elements pick up a character who has no family or relatives and present him as the next national hero to lead the country. Kejriwal, himself an avid movie buff, seems to have taken the cue from this Bollywood movie.

Anna Hazare, till then more known only in Maharashtra for his crusade against corruption, was very wisely picked up by Kejriwal and company for their country-wide movement – India Against Corruption. Hazare, a lone man and crusader at that time suited Kejriwal the most, says Raju Parulekar, the first blogger of Anna who wrote on [e-mail].

Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi reached Ralegaon Siddhi to meet and convince Anna to lead this movement against corruption throughout the country. The first casualty from Team Anna was Raju Parulekar, who Team Kejriwal thought was their first major impediment to building this national movement.

Anna was finally convinced, and Delhi saw a movement against corruption on a massive scale, perhaps not second even to Jayaprakash Narayan’s Sampoorn Kranti Movement of 1975. But Anna became uneasy as he saw the movement taking on a political hue. His role was more or less over and he, too, was dumped.

With Anna gone, the fight began in earnest over who was to be his successor. Kiran Bedi fell away and Arvind Kejriwal donned the mantle. Eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan and his legal eagle son Prashant Bhushan were the next to be taken care of.

History tells us that Bhushans made their contribution when it came to the creation of Aam Aadmi Party. Shanti Bhushan had given a cheque worth Rs 1 crore from his personal account to get the party up and running. But without any mercy or a second thought, both father and son were chucked out of the party.

Old time associates, Yogendra Yadav and Professor Anand Kumar, were humiliated before being unceremoniously shown the door. And it had been written on the wall that AAP means Arvind Kejriwal and nothing else.

Anyone who did now toe Kejriwal’s line was bound to be made to exit from the party, and Kejriwal’s coterie – with Manish Sisodia as his deputy – have since been calling the shots.

The latest Vishal Dadlani episode gives another clear-cut example of the use, dump and throw policy of the Aam Aadmi Party. The political outfit is trying to make political inroads in the state of Gujarat where there is a sizeable chunk of Jain voters.Naturally, Kejriwal can hardly afford to annoy these voters.

The Aam Aadmi Party is now Arvind Kejriwal Corporation Private Limited and Dadlani or no Dadlani, the game must go on!