Mayank Gandhi reveals how people's movement became one-man game

Mayank Gandhi on ground at rural development projectsThe Aam Admi Party AAP took the country by storm in 2012 and people believed they were looking at a new dawn But leaders are not what they seem like from far When you go closer you can see that they have feet of clay What they project and what they actually are are two different things alleged Mayank Gandhi former AAP leader and a founder member of the party in an email interview hours before his book AAP amp Down An Insiders Story of Indias Most Controversial Party Simon and Schuster India coauthored by Shrey Shah was released in the city yesterdayAt the book launch in Mumbai PicBipin KokateWake up IndiaThe tellall was released to mark the third anniversary as the ruling party in Delhi When we asked the Mumbaibased leader about his reasons for penning it he said The primary purpose was to lay down the bare truth about what happened and how the countrys citizens realised that democracy was more than just about voting during fiveyear elections It is to also tell the youth who still harbour the hope of alternative politics coming from AAP that their dream is overIn the book besides Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare Gandhi focuses on those who worked behind the scene to shake the nation into consciousness He elaborated As a young man I had felt the pain of being betrayed when the Janata Party experiment failed in which I had personally invested part of my life I was insignificant then and inconsequential Now when the youth of the country are being betrayed all over again I can feel their pain And this time I am not so inconsequential and would like to be a medium of letting the people know what happened and howA file photo of Arvind Kejriwal at an AAP rally in DelhiOpportunity lostGandhi who played a key role in AAPs formation admits that writing the book was a tumultuous journey From reliving the India Against Corruption IAC days to the crushing of dreams the only thought that came to my mind was the opportunity that we lost in transforming the nation Gandhi believes that AAP failed because instead of maintaining the founding principles for which it received extraordinary support the party decided to indulge in the three Cs mdash corruption casteism and communalism mdash after it won Delhi by unprecedented margins This impatience and abandonment of ethics and morals was the biggest mistake it made he saidBut despite losing focus the IAC movement has given people the courage to assert themselves before authorities and politicians Counter hegemony has started appearing as people have understood the power of standing up to the wrongs says the man who has decided to focus on development politics and is now working for the development of rural India starting with the Beed district in MaharashtraAAP amp Down which is a documentation of Indias second independence struggle according to Gandhi gives readers a chance to see how power changes man People who operate in the name of serving the poor many a times are serving their personal ambitions and egos the author saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go