
Aam Aadmi Party’s AAP in danger of being ‘gutter politics’
AAP has become the poster child for the gutter politics of a political party that is at the forefront of the political discourse on social media.
AAP’s Facebook page has more than 40,000 likes.
The party’s website has nearly 6.8 million page views.
It is also seen as the front page of the country and its Twitter feed has more subscribers than the entire Bharatiya Janata Party, the country’s biggest political party.
The AAP’s Twitter feed, which has more followers than the Bharatiyan Janata party, has more users than the whole BJP.
The BJP has about 6 million Twitter followers, according to the latest data available from data analytics firm StatCounter.
AAP has around 12 million Twitter and Facebook followers.
The RSS-affiliated organisation, which was founded by former AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in 2012, has grown rapidly in the last two years, growing from 1,500 members to over 40,00 in less than two years.
The RSS is an umbrella organisation of more than 100 Hindu organisations and a key component of the BJP’s ideological platform.
The BJP has more people who subscribe to its Facebook and Twitter feeds than the RSS.
AAP is the second largest RSS-related organisation, with about 12 million followers.
AAP followers are on average slightly more than 1 per cent of BJP’s total membership.
The trend in AAP’s membership growth comes as the party’s leader, Arvind Mayaram, and his allies are facing allegations of unethical behaviour.
The controversy erupted last month when it emerged that the AAP leader had bought and sold Facebook posts without disclosing the posts were private.
AAP denies the charges and has accused Mayaram of selling his personal information for political gain.
The allegations led to a public outcry, with some politicians calling on Mayaram to resign.
The Delhi Chief Minister, Arun Jaitley, has also asked the Delhi Police to probe the matter.
The party has also come under fire for alleged misuse of the internet, which it has been accused of violating by blocking a Facebook page of a Delhi politician and then sharing the same page on its own.
AAP had claimed it had no access to the page.
In February, a court issued an order restraining Mayaram and his party from using the Facebook page, but it later withdrew the order.
The Supreme Court later issued a fresh order on Mayaram’s behalf, directing the party to delete the Facebook account.
The Congress has called on the AAP to remove the Facebook pages and said it is working with a group of lawyers to file an FIR against Mayaram.