Mangalore, Jul 20: Internal bickering, sense of frustration has left wide chasms in Dakshina Kannada district unit of Aam Aadmi Party. This manifested itself with founding members including Robert Rosario, founder convener, S Nandagopal, founder co-convener, Dharmendra, convener, Ajay Kumar, founder joint secretary, Krishnamurthy, and Ismail, founder members prominent among those who resigned from their primary membership on Saturday.
Disintegration of the party at district level began when Lok Sabha candidate was announced without any consultation at the ground level, exhibiting total lack of internal democracy. Things became worse every following day as the candidate M R Vasudeva utterly failed in taking genuine party workers into confidence. "Functioning of AAP went off track totally and we felt there is no point in our continuing in the party fold," Nandagopal said.
Letters written to national convener Arvind Kejriwal on the happenings in the district, copies of which was marked to all leaders concerned in the state and national level went ignored. Noting that the letter was ready on April 17, the day polling to DK Lok Sabha constituency was held; Nandagopal said letter was formally sent to the leadership a month later to ensure it received their undivided attention. "But this too did not have any effect," he said.
Acknowledging that Robert had voiced the concerns over happenings in the party openly, Nandagopal said the same was also discussed internally and also with the state and national leadership, to no avail. Asserting that they had not burnt bridges with the party as yet, Nandagopal said all those who have submitted their resignations are still not averse to rejoining the party provided the basic tenets on which the party was founded, is met.
Nandagopal at the same time also demanded that the party make public the entire source of income and expenses that the party incurred on Vasudeva. "The expenditure as shown in the ECI website is not clear on many aspects of income-expenditure given that well-wishers had donated many a service at their cost," he said, adding it will also be prudent that the party undertakes a similar exercise for all the 423 candidates who contested the LS polls.
A letter by the founding Members of Aam Aadmi Party, Dakshina Kannada District Unit, to the party supremo Arvind Kejriwal
Dear Mr. Kejriwal,
Greetings and good wishes to you and all the dreamers of a Brighter India...
“He Came, He Saw ... And He Conquered.”
“We Came, We Saw, We Could have Conquered... But, We Disintegrated.”
Welcome to Aam Aadmi Party (Dakshina Kannada) Private Limited.
On February 15, 2013 when a kid, one and half year old flew the tri-colour balloons along with our leader Prof. Yogendra Yadav (which she fondly remembers even to this day), We all had a hope... We all had an aspiration... We all had an objective in mind... We all felt we are in the revolution mode...
Today, When we could have become the alternative to the NOTA and a formidable alternative to the existing political outfits in the run up for the general elections, we have been reduced to becoming “Also Ran” in the race...
This is the tragic story of shattered dreams which is being put together once again in a bid to realise a long term dream of “Swaraj”.
We all came to the Aam Aadmi Party fold expecting a “Change”... Yes... We did have a change... From hopes to utter disappointment. This is where AAP Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, one of the first district units to be set up in the country, today stands.
This letter comes to you from some of the founding members of the party who thought it wise not to bring any kind of disgrace to the party before the elections in the long term interest of the party. That is exactly why this letter is being written a day following the completion of election process to the Lok Sabha through out the country.
On February 15, 2013, we had a great launch, springing up a hope for change. The launch function attended by Yogendra Yadav along with state representatives like Mr. Prithvi Reddy (Then State Convener), Mr. Chandrakanth, Mr. Hariharan and Mr. Pramod Karkera among others from Bangalore, took the city by storm of a new wave. With loads of expectations, people gathered at Kadri Park extending their support to the newly formed outfit. The mockery of many stopped all of a sudden.
We are all fascinated by the ground rule of the party which talks o transparency, right to express ourselves and internal democracy. However, it is sad that we have always been guided (rather mis-guided) by the Karnataka State Committee which, today we are convinced that it is merely the Bangalore Taluk Committee and by default (By virtue of being in Bangalore), our so called State Committee.
If at all there was internal democracy, the first voice of our members would have been satisfactorily responded. Our members felt that we need to field at least a few candidates for the local body (Mangalore City Corporation) elections that were due in March 2013. But a straight forward answer from the “State Committee” shut us down saying that the party was concentrating on Delhi Elections due in November. That was when we ventured into supporting a couple of independents but to no avail.
Again, since we had no active role to play in the State Legislative Assembly elections in April-May, party volunteers showed least regard for building the party. The primary and active members led by the Executive Committee sprung into action now and then and the growth of the party was snail paced. The same time saw some bad patch in the administrative functioning of the party which led to the ouster of the founder convener and constitution of a new team of office bearers.
We all were excited with the results of Delhi and there was sudden spurt of action in an unprecedented pace. On January 9, 2014, we witnessed an unexpected amount of enthusiasm as appreciable number of people turned out for the Membership drive. Coincidentally, again, Mangalore was the first in the country to start the membership drive before Delhi (which started on January 10). The reaction of public was volcanic as the party got a shot in the arm with support from all sections of the society.
This was a phase of steady building of the party which was successfully halted by the wrongdoings and high handedness of one member (Rohan Shiri) who failed miserably in cultivating a cordial relationship with the new members who enthusiastically joined the party fold. The steady decline in the number of volunteers to the party office went unnoticed by the executive committee until it reached a threshold when complaints started pouring in regarding the mannerisms of the member in question who was managing the office affairs. The members of the executive committee chose to put things right and carry forward without taking action against the Secretary who in turn along with his spouse (An Advisory Committee Member) conspired to take control of the functioning of the district unit in all possible manner.
This was rather manageable. The party that believes in transparency and internal democracy had its worst blow here when this couple secretly worked towards fielding the candidate for the Lok Sabha Elections without the knowledge of the active volunteers. At the time when we had decided that we were not ready for the polls as we had not reached to the grass root level, we received a jolt from the blue.
All of a sudden, a person (However capable he is), who has never been identified with our party which has been in existence since one year, was para-dropped as the AAP candidate for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency. A secret ploy that took each one of us by surprise. On enquiring, we found several negatives about the candidate but we were royally snubbed down by the “State Leadership”. We now feel that we were quite humble to have been obeying all that came from the state instead of asserting our opinions.
It was too late to realise that we had not been taken into confidence and our goodness was exploited by the state convener in connivance with the Mr. Rohan Shiri. The National Executive Member Prithvi Reddy also stood by the defaulters and finally we were thrust upon by a candidate who failed to garner our support and confidence. Volunteers worked round the clock not for the candidate who has been `Arrogance Personified’, but for the party which has been dear to them.
“I am not here to solve your internal problems. I am here to contest the elections as a candidate and you better tow my line”, was the first statement of our MP Candidate which speaks volumes of the `humility’ of this person.
Through the election process, volunteers worked for the party but not for the candidate. It is such a reasonable gesture by all of us that the letter is being written to you following the elections. Or else, this would have further damaged the image of our party which we did not want to happen.
On this day, we the active volunteers of Aam Aadmi Party in Dakshina Kannada district pledge to reiterate and rededicate ourselves to the building of our party in the true spirit of the objectives for which it has been formed by people like you, Yadavji or Sisodia among others.
We are proud to be part of this revolution and shall continue to be so in its letter and spirit.
Dakshina Kannada unit of AAP hereby declares itself as an independent unit with fullest of internal democracy till a legitimate state unit is formed. In the next three months we shall constitute a district committee totally in lines of the constitution of the party and shall thus be a model for others to follow. We shall be henceforth coordinating with the central leadership and shall not abide by any of the diktats by the state unit as we have already been betrayed by them.
We are also sad at the manner in which the funds were utilised for the campaigning activities. Sad because, contrary to our objective of selfless and voluntary service which the party expects, we were no different from any other party in terms of paid volunteers. Further, the candidate has been leading some protests post elections without even discussing with the members who matter and thus trying to create groupism in the party with the sole intention of taking control of the party affairs following the election process.
The post election scenario is even worse. The candidate Mr. Vasudeva had the audacity to go to the media and announce that he contesting from AAP was a `mis-calculated’ move. He also went on to criticise the party structure terming it as `fragile’ and `marred with difference of opinions within’. When the active members took exception to his statements, he openly declared in the media that he was the `District Spokesperson’ and that any other’s opinions should not entertained by the media. It is ironical that an MP candidate has declared himself as the Spokesperson without the knowledge of any of the district active members or the core committee.
He is washing his hands off for the dismal performance in the elections and blaming the party organisation. While the general opinion of the public is that the choice of the candidate itself was `mis-calculated’. He is in connivance with few other members are openly working towards splitting the party, instead of building the party from the grass root level.
At this hour of crisis, we look forward to seek your advice and suggestions that could help us to build a strong foundation of our party that will surely be a force to reckon with in the time to come. We are aware of your serious commitments and full time occupation in the ongoing election process and hence request you to instruct any of your national executive members to be in touch with us on the future developments of the district unit of AAP.
We are here with a purpose and shall only sigh a breadth of relief when we accomplish the same.
We look forward for a response from your end at the earliest.
Regards,
Active Volunteers,
AAP DK Unit, Karnataka
Member Designation
Robert Rosario Founder Convener
S Nandagopal Founder Co-Convener
Dharmendra Convener
Harsha Samrajya Co-Convener
Ajay Kumar Founder Joint Secretary
Sulochana Hegde Treasurer
Roshan Ullal Secretary
Mukesh Hegde Advisory Committee Member
Vinod Kumar Executive Committee Member
Bangra Moosa Executive Committee Member
Ramdas Nambiar Executive Committee Member
Alwyn Rodrigues Financial Advisor
Praveen Shenoy Executive Committee Member
Krishnamurthy Founder Member
Ismail Founder Member
Eshwara D K Founder Member
Gayatri Founder Member
An open letter by the founding Members of Aam Aadmi Party, Dakshina Kannada District Unit
Greetings and good wishes from active volunteers of Aam Aadmi Party, Dakshina Kannada unit, Karnataka.
It is with hopes, expectations and aspirations in view of building a strong India, we joined this political movement called the Aam Aadmi Party in our own interest. Most of us have put in our utmost energy in person and financially to build the party right from the beginning of the movement.
We, at Dakshina Kannada district, are proud to be among the first districts in the country to have established the official district committee through a proper process following the organizing of a District Convention. The district unit which was launched by none other than Mr. Yogendra Yadav on February 15, 2013, strengthened its base to organize the general body meet on July 22, 2014 when the Official District Committee was established. The party has grown ever since and we provided a foundation strong enough to field a candidate for the Lok Sabha elections.
It is unfortunate that the manner in which the party is heading post elections wherein there seem to be absolutely no internal democracy and internal governing mechanism at the district level. While the party has been sabotaged by a few for their vested interests, the active members including most of the founding members are disillusioned with party leadership in the state which has consistently failed to proactively resolve the impending crisis in the party.
The disintegration of the party in the district level began when the Lok Sabha candidate was announced without any consultation in the ground level, exhibiting total lack of internal democracy. The things became worse every following day as the candidate utterly failed in taking genuine party workers into confidence. The functioning of the party has gone off track totally and we feel that there is no point in our continuing in the party fold.
We have written a letter to our National Convener, Arvind Kejriwal on the happenings in the district, which is copied to all concerned leaders in the state and national level. However, none have replied or reacted to it, proving that the leadership has ignored or not interested in the legitimate concerns of the party workers in the grass root level.
On the other hand, the party in the district has become a victim of continued conspiracy of a few led by the Lok Sabha candidate M R Vasudeva to gain control of the district unit in the most undemocratic manner.
In such a prevalent condition, we the founding members of the party along with many active members who have selflessly strived for the party’s growth in the district have resolved to resign from the primary membership of the party.
The resignation letter is being issued through the media as we fail to understand as to who is the authorized person to be addressed as the district unit has been dissolved as per an order issued by the state committee. The structure of the party has crumbled from the state level and hence we wish to issue this mass resignation to the media. We shall however send this letter to our national convener for his kind perusal.
It has been a great experience to have built a party in this one and half years and our commitment to the concepts of Swaraj will remain, as we continue to serve the society in which ever manner possible, both individually and collectively.
Thank you very much.
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