In its haste to write the political death of senior leader Kumar Vishwas, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seems to have taken a decision which will prove detrimental to its own prospects.

On Wednesday, the party announced the three candidates who will contest for Delhi’s Rajya Sabha seats. Briefing the media at party supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, deputy CM Manish Sisodia revealed the names – Sanjay Singh, ND Gupta and Sushil Gupta.

While Singh is an AAP veteran, ND Gupta is said to be an insider as he manages the financial accounts of the party. The buck stops at Sushil Gupta.

The natural questions that come to anyone’s mind are – who is he? What makes him so important that he is being sent to the Upper House? Why did the party prefer an unknown face over someone like Vishwas? What has been his contribution to the party, its ideology – if any exists – and mass acceptability?

Sisodia claimed that after months of search, consultation and internal party discussions, the three names were finalised. Indeed, we must buy Sisodia’s claims. In fact, how does it matter that Sushil Gupta, a Delhi-based businessman, was best known for his association with the Delhi Congress. And that he had tendered his resignation to Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken only on November 28. Also, his contribution to the AAP and its cause must have outweighed that of Vishwas.

This morning, AAP’s Delhi legislators assembled at chief minister Kejriwal’s residence. The agenda was to pass the names for the three Rajya Sabha seats which will go to the polls on January 16. The political affairs committee (PAC) – AAP’s top decision-making body – was to take the final call on the candidature.

After the decision was taken, PAC members Sisodia, Gopal Rai (also the party’s Delhi convener), and Pankaj Gupta briefed the media at noon. Sisodia said: “The MLAs had unanimously passed these names. Eight of the nine members of PAC (present at the meeting) had approved these names.” He added: “One member had supported two of the three names.”

(Left to right) Sanjay Singh, Sushil Gupta and ND Gupta.

He refused to reveal the name of the PAC member who had flagged the issue and the person whose name was proposed. “You all know whose name we are talking about,” Sisodia said, referring to the third name proposed. That can be interpreted as a reference to poet-politician Vishwas.

Notably, Sisodia had briefed about Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta’s profile and the process of selection at length. While speaking about Sushil Gupta, that detailing was missing. When asked the reason for preferring a former Congressman over Vishwas, he said: “He provides free education to 15,000 students in Delhi and Haryana.”

Soon after the presser was over, AAP legislators came out. When asked about the background of Sushil Gupta, they uttered replies which appeared parroted. Speaking to this correspondent, one of the AAP legislators said Vishwas’ name was not proposed by any MLA. Interestingly, another said, “We didn’t propose any names inside the meeting.”

When asked if the names had come from the PAC itself, realising her mistake, she backtracked, saying the names were not pressed upon them by the PAC.

Another insider told Newslaundry: “Sushil Gupta had got in touch with the party four to five months back.” Interestingly, Gupta had resigned from the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) in November.

Sushil Gupta’s nomination has given enough ammunition to the opposition to launch an attack on AAP. Taking a dig at Kejriwal and his party, DPCC chief Maken tweeted:

Considering that it is going to be AAP’s debut in the Upper House through these seats, the nominations were being tracked closely by the party members, media and even the opposition.

The party had started the marathon of searching for names for the Rajya Sabha with former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan. In the past, reports had surfaced that they could even reach out to credible faces formerly associated with the party’s arch-rivals, such as Arun Shourie.

Sisodia himself said the party got in touch with 18 big faces. However, they declined AAP’s offer for two reasons – they didn’t want to lose their independent identity by joining the party or they feared that the central government would hound them if they entered the Upper House on an AAP ticket.

The second formula was to field leaders from the party itself. But Kejriwal wanted faces who had “contributed to the society” in different sectors, said Sisodia. Hence, the third formula of having a mix of party insiders and outsiders was adopted.

In Sisodia’s words, this time AAP looked for mid-level people who have contributed fairly to the society. Hence, Singh, ND Gupta and Suhsil Gupta were nominated. Clearly, the AAP covered a long distance in the process of selection of candidates – starting from Rajan and settling with former DPCC member-cum-businessman Gupta.

Sisodia kept dodging questions on Vishwas. According to sources, despite being a member of the PAC, Vishwas was not invited to the meeting. Singh too was not present at Wednesday’s decision-making process. Hoping against hope, this could have meant Singh and Vishwas’ name was on the list of probables. By the end of the process, the AAP not only put its stamp on the two Guptas and Singh’s name but also put a full-stop on Vishwas’ political career – at least for now.

Vishwas attacking friend “Arvind bhai” said, “I have been punished for speaking the truth.”

In his first open salvo at Kejriwal, the poet-politician said: “22 logon ki NE mein Arvind ne mujhe muskura kar kaha tha, sirji apko maarenge par shahid nahi hone denge.(Arvind had told me in front of the 22-member national executive, that we will kill you but not let you become a martyr.)”

He added: “Today I accept my martyrdom.”

A clearly devastated Vishwas took digs at the two Guptas nominated by the party and ended his address by saying, “Sabko ladne hi pade apne apne yudh, chahe ho Raja Ram chahe Gautam Budh (be it lord Ram or Budh – each one has to fight their own battle.)”

With this recent brawl, the party has lost its sheen. It also sends the message that Arvind Kejriwal is AAP and AAP is Arvind Kejriwal. Anyone who tries to question the leadership and the party’s conduct will meet a similar fate. That is an unceremonious ouster. The AAP needed to field candidates which had national credibility and could raise questions against the current political dispensation at the Centre.

While Singh has immense organisational experience and a long history of social activism, Vishwas has been a vocal voice against the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS. The AAP also had popular faces such as Meera Sanyal, Ashish Khetan and spokesperson Ashutosh Gupta – whose name was doing the rounds for the nominations – who could have been fielded. At least these leaders have a fair understanding of national politics.

Moreover, for Vishwas, it’s a battle he has lost. He was an integral part of the anti-graft movement and a founding member of the party. In 2014, when AAP decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls, Vishwas was the first name to be announced by the party. He remained among the favourite leaders even during the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls. However, soon after his open attack on the party after it lost the Punjab elections and Delhi civic body polls, things started turning ugly.

In May 2017, the first major drama over his prospects in the party started when Okhla legislator Amanatullah Khan called him a BJP agent. Even then Vishwas had said Khan was a mask and the game was being played by his political masters.

In October, Khan was reinstated in the party. Two days later, in the national council meeting, Vishwas’ name didn’t feature on the list of speakers. Barely two months later, in Vishwas’ words, his “vadh (slaughter)” has been executed by the party.

While it remains unclear what the two Guptas represent, Vishwas’ voice would have certainly rocked the Upper House. This is something that is being pointed out even by former party members. While those like Mayank Gandhi raised fingers at Sushil Gupta, former AAP founding member Yogendra Yadav went to the extent of questioning Kejriwal’s incorruptible image.

By preferring internal bickering over larger issues, the AAP has certainly proved that it is just another political party. It also must explain more clearly the political compulsions that caused it to field the lesser-known Guptas to the Rajya Sabha.