Modi obsession key reason for party's electoral failures: Goa AAP leader

Oscar Rebello was one of the chief campaigners for the Aam Aadmi Party in Goa in Feb 4 election

The AAP's chief spokesperson in Goa, Oscar Rebello, says a key reason for the party's electoral failures is its "obsession" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In an article published on a local website, Rebello says the sacking of former party stalwarts Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan as well as expecting a popular groundswell for the anti-corruption crusade could have led to the AAP's poor showing in recent state elections.

Rebello was one of the chief campaigners for the Aam Aadmi Party in Goa in the February 4 election.

In his signed article, however, Rebellow says that it was unfair to write AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's obituary just yet and that the AAP co-founder would not "just fade off into the sunset, like an ageing Clint Eastwood".

"Crushing black economy is the life blood of AAP and demonetisation should have been welcomed, with caveats of course, but our blind rage of Modi-Shah blinded us to the obvious," Rebello said, citing that AAP's obsession with Modi as the most significant mistake.

Rebello, however, said Modi and BJP President Amit Shah were "cleverly eviscerating democracy" by undermining institutional mechanisms, one after the other.

"First our mistakes: And mistakes we did like all well-meaning, idealistic fools who thought that fighting the system was as simple as Amitabh Bachchan, singlehandedly knocking out the bad guys in his movies," he said.

The sacking of AAP co-founders Yadav and Bhushan "alienated swathes of public movement followers across the country", Rebello said.

"Bhushan and Yogendra can't pretend to be angels as they assiduously tried to sabotage AAP chances in Delhi 2015. But their ugly, public ejection horrified us and did far more damage to brand AK rather than the holier than thou Bhushan-Yogendra," Rebello said.

Calling the AAP's anti-corruption crusade as a "one-trick pony", Rebello said "Brand Modi" had captured the imagination of the Hindutva rightwing and the conservative Hindu for now.

"The 'secular' brigade comprising of liberal Hindus, Christians and Muslims are in so much terror of the undeclared Hindu Rashtra training upon us that they are looking at the most realistic option, available, to beat the BJP be it Congress-NCP-Trinamool, stuffed with charlatans or not. Our brand of being one-trick ponies on the anti-corruption crusade are finding no riders," he says.

Rebello said it was unfair to parade Team AK and AAP as "desh-drohis" by the electronic media, adding that selfless party volunteers were "combative, committed and completely convinced" by the dream of a better India and were being led from the front by Kejriwal.

"Of course, he (Kejriwal) could be exasperating and short tempered, he could never suffer fools easily and perhaps suffered from a pinch of paranoia like any leader in the spotlight.

"But that was because he was human not evil, as the world now seems to suggest. Arvind, like any great leader, has sacrificed so much. Family and career, financial security, even his health," Rebello said.