Expelled Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Yogendra Yadav, on his visit to Kolkata for the Swaraj Abhiyan, criticised the policies adopted by the Mamata-led Trinamool Congress government in the state. “In West Bengal, during the long rule of the Left Front, people felt suffocated and put hope on the TMC. But now there are times when they feel it (TMC) is even worse. The party took all the sins of the Left Front and added some of its own. BJP, which is the new entrant, has further deteriorated the state’s condition with its communal card,” Yadav said at a press conference on Sunday. He said that strengthening the democratic culture in Bengal was a big challenge. “And to think that the state has a history of ringing in the future for the entire country. Looking at the way the recent municipal elections were held here, I really hope that this is not the future,” he said. [related-post] The former AAP leader said his visit to Bengal is part of the Swaraj Abhiyan which aims at “retaining, regaining and recreating” the energy the country witnessed three years ago but which is now steadily depleting at present. “Our aim is to bring back the thousands of people who feel let down and cheated and want to leave politics. People who had thought of changing the political system received a major jolt. That has to be saved,” he said, and added that other than opening swaraj kendras, call for a new agenda for the country and addressing the problems of rural India would be high on the abhiyan’s agenda. He also said that there would be a nationwide yatra as part of the abhiyan. “The country witnessed the rise of a new energy but so far only a tiny proportion has been realised,” he said, and added that their aim was not to contest the 2016 Assembly elections (in Bengal) but to establish and gather energy, generate ideas and convince ourselves first before creating a federal organisation where the state units would have autonomy. Referring to the AAP, he said the party which had raised hopes of being “different” from the herd “became a victim of Delhi-centredness, high command culture and personality cult”. “The AAP or rather the aam aadmi movement enjoyed a lot of goodwill among people but it became too centralised. A huge national asset was created which is getting depleted. We need to create alternative politics and not an alternative political party,” he said.
