Dharamvira Gandhi set to part ways with AAP: Why the party should have patched up with him

Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) suspended Lok Sabha member from Patiala in Punjab, Dr. Dharamvira Gandhi, is finally all set to part ways with the party. Dr Gandhi has announced the formation of a new forum named Punjab Manch which is expected to evolve into a formal political party in the course of time. He has stated that he will quit AAP the day this Manch becomes a political party.

Dr Gandhi along with Fatehgarh Sahib MP Harinder Singh Khalsa have remained Lok Sabha MPs for the last three years despite being suspended by their parent party for alleged anti-party activities. Reports coming from Delhi indicate that Khalsa is also likely to join Dr Gandhi's forum soon.

Over the years Dr Gandhi had been saying that he would continue to raise people's issues in the parliament and not quit because it was the people who had elected him for this purpose. With AAP's top leadership neither throwing out these two MPs nor revoking their suspension even during the crucial Punjab state Assembly polls, the two have continued with their work.

Dr Gandhi had emerged as a giant killer in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when he trounced the former minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur who is also the wife of the present Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh who is still looked upon as Maharaja on his home turf.

This victory had come about during the 'Modi wave' and it was Dr Gandhi's personal reputation and rapport with the masses that had a major role to play in it. With his departure, the question that arises is whether AAP will be able to find a replacement that can match his repute and credibility. There is a large section of the electorate in Punjab that believes that the AAP's top leadership should have tried to mend fences with Dr Gandhi and Khalsa, the two MPs out of four that it had suspended in March 2015.

They were sacked for speaking against the expulsion of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the national executive of the party besides being critical of the working style of AAP's national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

AAP has recently appointed senior leader Dr. Balbir Singh as co-president of Punjab unit and given him the responsibility of revamping the organisational structure. Dr Balbir had played a key role in ensuring Dr Gandhi’s victory in 2014 polls as his campaign manager. He also has a considerable clout in Patiala and had lost to Amarinder from the Patiala (Urban) seat last year.

Despite being suspended, Dr Gandhi has continued to make headlines by taking up people-oriented issues in the parliament as well as in various other seminars and programmes.

Floating the Punjab Manch, he said, “Our objective is 'Federal India, Democratic Punjab' and our vision is for a country strongly rooted in democracy, arising out of a comity of individual states exercising federal powers, as envisioned in the Constitution which speaks of a 'Union of States'. The country has been let down by the Congress in the name of 'national integration' and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the name of 'nationalism'. The diversity of the country has to be acknowledged and honoured.”

He said the Punjab Manch believes that the essence and true destiny of India can only be achieved by the threads of its cultures and races working fully and harmoniously, weaving a much richer, holistic tapestry.

“At present, the sum of its individual constituent parts are largely subservient to the yoke of an overly-strong, stifling, and unsuitably centralised government,” he said.

He said the Punjab Manch aims to build a country where diversities of all hues, enjoy opportunities to flower as part of a larger bouquet, fully realizing the idea of ‘unity in diversity’. “To achieve this objective, the Manch shall strive for the correction of distorted centre state relations to achieve a truly federal India.

The Manch also stands for fully democratising state administration and building a democratic society at large,” he added.

Dr Gandhi has been in news for taking up issues which no other political party dares to raise. In December, he was in news for raising the issues pertaining to farmers' land being 'forcibly' taken over by the Dera Radha Soami in Beas. He had reportedly taken up the matter with the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh requesting him to look into the property of the Dera and the plight of farmers who are forced to sell their land to it. There were later reports about his facing threats on social media and on the telephone.

He has also been leading the fight for providing affordable health care to the masses. He has been advocating that the government needs to regulate private healthcare industry and has approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. He has sought that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) be asked to take necessary steps to expand the list of medical devices under price control. He has also been demanding that the government take necessary measures to control the prices of diagnostics and other investigations and impose price control on healthcare charges.

Just two days back he staged a dharna in the Parliament complex demanding compensation to Punjab for sharing waters of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej with non-riparian states of Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.

Sitting near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi for two hours before the Lok Sabha convened for the morning business, he said, “Punjab’s financial condition is in the red. It is not in a position to carry out welfare projects for people. On account of the Centre's decision, Punjab has been pushed into sharing its rivers waters with other states. The state’s own water table has depleted alarmingly affecting daily lives of the people. Either the beneficiary states should pay the compensation or the Centre must step in.”

He has also garnered a lot of respect in Punjab for his efforts on getting a Sikh Marriage Act implemented.

How the Punjab Manch fares as a political force remains to be seen in the days to come but Gandhi's departure from AAP will surely create a big vacuum that will be very difficult to fill, particularly at a time when AAP would be looking towards improving its tally of MPs from Punjab.