Atishi fine for now, but will AAP unity stand test of post-poll churn?

In politics, while many things are said, several things are left unsaid. The real politics happens in that space — between the said and the unsaid. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders said in public that they supported Atishi as the Delhi Chief Minister and that they believed that their chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, would be making a comeback soon. But what if Kejriwal is unable to act as a full-fledged CM even if AAP wins the Delhi polls? That falls in the realm of what has been left unsaid.
Atishi’s name was proposed by Kejriwal, the ultimate decision-maker in AAP, two days after his surprise announcement that he would resign as the chief minister. The plan is to place a fresh face and disassociate the party from the excise policy taint for which he and his deputy, Manish Sisodia, were in jail.
Though Atishi is the face, no one doubts who would be pulling the strings.
The other thing that all AAP leaders, including Atishi, seem to be very sure about is the return of Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister after a fresh mandate from the people of Delhi.
“I will work for the next few months towards the goal of bringing back Kejriwal as Delhi Chief Minister,” said Atishi in her first statement as the CM-designate.
Atishi was the frontrunner for sure, but other AAP leaders were also among the probables.
MLAs Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot, Gopal Rai, Imran Hussain, and Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita were on the list.
“It was decided that Atishi will fulfil the responsibilities of CM till the time of the election and will work to make Arvind Kejriwal the CM of Delhi again,” said Gopal Rai after Atishi’s name was announced as the CM-designate.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Until the Election Commission conducts the elections, one of us will sit on that chair, just as Bharat ruled by placing Lord Ram’s sandals on the throne, instead of sitting on it himself.”
From what AAP leaders have said, it is amply clear that everyone believes that Kejriwal will return as the Delhi Chief Minister after the Assemblsy polls, which should be held in a few months.
That everyone has fallen in line with Kejriwal’s decision to elevate Atishi to the post of chief minister is because of the belief that she is a stop-gap arrangement to tackle a crisis and won’t remain a CM long. Even CM-designate Atishi seems to believe so. She made her intentions and belief clear, saying, “Delhi has only one CM and his name is Arvind Kejriwal.. Our sole objective will be to make him CM again”.
What has been left unsaid is that if Kejriwal doesn’t make a quick comeback, there are other contenders too.
There is no question about Kejriwal’s dominance over AAP. With this decision, he has demonstrated his hold on the party once again. That the party has shown a united face is also a result of that strong leadership.
However, unity cannot be taken for granted.
What happens in a scenario where AAP wins the election but Kejriwal is not yet cleared by the courts to function as a full-fledged chief minister? Does Atishi continue as the chief minister? Will the other also-rans continue to back her as the CM? These are the questions that lie between what has been said and left unsaid.
And this is discounting AAP facing a Champai Soren-like situation that Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) witnessed recently.
It would be a conjecture that everyone would readily agree to Atishi, whom the opposition has called a “puppet CM”, to continue in that role for 5 years.
In case Kejriwal’s return is prolonged, will the personal ambitions of AAP leaders not rear their heads?
Though Kejriwal might have scored a political sixer and preempted a BJP onslaught with his move of putting up a fresh face as the CM, it would be interesting to watch how the CM drama unfolds after the Delhi election if the AAP wins. Will the AAP unity pass the post-poll test will be the million-dollar question.