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Senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Kailash Gahlot resigned from the party today, but the seeds of discord between Mr Gahlot and the AAP leadership were sown on August 15 over unfurling the national flag during the Delhi government's Independence Day celebrations, sources have said.
In the absence of the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was in jail on charges linked to the alleged liquor policy scam, the task of unfurling the flag was under scrutiny. Mr Kejriwal had directed that Atishi, then the Delhi Education Minister, should perform the ceremonial duty. However, Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena intervened, deeming the direction invalid and designating Delhi Home Minister Kailash Gahlot for the job instead.
The Lt Governor's decision was backed by the logic that the Home Department oversees Delhi Police, which organises the ceremonial march-past. This move, however, set off a fierce tug-of-war between the AAP-led Delhi government and the Lr Governor's office.
The AAP accused the Lt Governor of undermining its authority, calling the move "petty politics." Atishi slammed Ms Saxena's decision, labelling it an act of "dictatorship" and questioning the BJP's commitment to democracy. Mr Gahlot's compliance with the Lt Governor's directive appeared to strain his relationship with Mr Kejriwal and the AAP.
In December last year, the law department was taken from Mr Gahlot and handed over to Atishi. According to sources, there was a lot of work pending with the department which contributed in the decision to take it away from Mr Gahlot.
In his resignation letter, Mr Gahlot did not mince words. He described the controversies engulfing AAP as "embarrassing and awkward," singling out the "Sheeshmahal" debacle - a term used to mock Mr Kejriwal's residence expenditure - as an example of misplaced priorities.
"Let me start with sincerely thanking you for having given me the honour of serving and representing the people of Delhi as an MLA and a Minister. However, at the same time, I also want to share with you that today the Aam Aadmi Party faces grave challenges. Challenges from within, to the very values that brought us together to AAP," Mr Gahlot's letter read.
"Political ambitions have overtaken our commitment towards people, leaving many promises unfulfilled. Take for example the Yamuna, which we had promised to transform into a clean river, but never got around to doing it. Now the Yamuna River is perhaps even more polluted than ever before. Apart from this, now there are many embarrassing and awkward controversies like the 'Sheeshmahal', which are now making everyone doubt whether we still believe in being Aam Aadmi.
"Another painful point has been the fact that instead of fighting for people's rights we have increasingly only been fighting for our own political agenda. This has severely crippled our ability to even deliver basic services to the people of Delhi. It is now obvious that real progress for Delhi cannot happen if the Delhi Government spends the majority of its time fighting with the Centre," the letter added.
The BJP seized the moment to target AAP. BJP leaders framed Mr Gahlot's resignation as proof of AAP's alleged failure to maintain internal cohesion or deliver on its promises to Delhi residents.