NEW DELHI: As an expected fallout of the brawl in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Patiala MP Dharam Vira Gandhi -- who had raised his voice against the treatment meted out to now expelled Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan -- was removed as the party's leader in Lok Sabha on Tuesday. In his place, the party appointed stand-up comedian and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann to articulate its views in the lower House.
This is an unprecedented rise for an entertainer who rode his punchlines through his poll campaign and eventually to Lok Sabha, although the jury may still be out on whether it is a sign of the readiness of the political class to put satire on the same pedestal as serious criticism.
Even though Gandhi's removal was explained by AAP merely as a "party decision", it is hardly lost on anyone that he has paid the price for siding with rebels. The Patiala MP gave considerable grief to Arvind Kejriwal and his aides when he endorsed the version of Bhushan and Yadav that the dominant faction resorted to strong-arm methods to intimidate dissidents and stifle their protest. That Gandhi had till then kept himself aloof from the ugly factional fight lent credence to the rebels' narrative.
Party member Ashutosh, while confirming the development, refused to go into the reason why Gandhi had to be dumped. "This is a party decision and we need not explain it," he said.
Mann, who had defended Kejriwal and his group, was pleased with the development, and he attacked Bhushan and Yadav saying the two leaders were sacked for carrying out anti-party activities. "I have raised maximum questions, participated in maximum debates and raised concerns about various bills in the House. If the party wants to give me more responsibilities, then I am ready to shoulder them," Mann said.
Mann's rise is significant as a leg-up to entertainers in Indian politics which has seen many actors enter the fray but rarely any rising beyond a point.
As a stand-up comedian, Mann also joins the league of several such personalities across the world who have literally laughed their way to election wins and upset political calculations.
From Italy to Iceland and Miyazaki to Minnesota, comedians and entertainers have left a trail of political surprise. Italian comedian Giuseppe Piero 'Beppe' Grillo spent much of his career pillorying political parties until he launched the 'Five Star Movement' which went on to win over 25% votes in the 2013 general elections in Italy. Icelandic standup comic Jon Gnarr fought mayoral elections in the capital Reykjavik as a "fun thing" only to be declared the winner to his and the political establishment's horror.
In 2007, Japanese comedian Hideo Higashikokubaru decided to run a serious campaign for governor of the Miyazaki Prefecture and won it in an atmosphere of complete dejection among voters with the political class. Most famous of all, however, was the victory of WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Jesse Ventura's win in Minnesota gubernatorial elections in 1998 when he defeated both the Democratic and Republican candidates.
Mann's rise comparatively is circumstantial but given that he lost no minute in siding with Kejriwal after the quarrel broke out in the party shows that he is equipped, besides a sense of humour, with political smarts. The reward that he has received from the party will encourage him to further burnish his 'loyalist' credentials.
This is an unprecedented rise for an entertainer who rode his punchlines through his poll campaign and eventually to Lok Sabha, although the jury may still be out on whether it is a sign of the readiness of the political class to put satire on the same pedestal as serious criticism.
Even though Gandhi's removal was explained by AAP merely as a "party decision", it is hardly lost on anyone that he has paid the price for siding with rebels. The Patiala MP gave considerable grief to Arvind Kejriwal and his aides when he endorsed the version of Bhushan and Yadav that the dominant faction resorted to strong-arm methods to intimidate dissidents and stifle their protest. That Gandhi had till then kept himself aloof from the ugly factional fight lent credence to the rebels' narrative.
Party member Ashutosh, while confirming the development, refused to go into the reason why Gandhi had to be dumped. "This is a party decision and we need not explain it," he said.
Mann, who had defended Kejriwal and his group, was pleased with the development, and he attacked Bhushan and Yadav saying the two leaders were sacked for carrying out anti-party activities. "I have raised maximum questions, participated in maximum debates and raised concerns about various bills in the House. If the party wants to give me more responsibilities, then I am ready to shoulder them," Mann said.
Mann's rise is significant as a leg-up to entertainers in Indian politics which has seen many actors enter the fray but rarely any rising beyond a point.
As a stand-up comedian, Mann also joins the league of several such personalities across the world who have literally laughed their way to election wins and upset political calculations.
From Italy to Iceland and Miyazaki to Minnesota, comedians and entertainers have left a trail of political surprise. Italian comedian Giuseppe Piero 'Beppe' Grillo spent much of his career pillorying political parties until he launched the 'Five Star Movement' which went on to win over 25% votes in the 2013 general elections in Italy. Icelandic standup comic Jon Gnarr fought mayoral elections in the capital Reykjavik as a "fun thing" only to be declared the winner to his and the political establishment's horror.
In 2007, Japanese comedian Hideo Higashikokubaru decided to run a serious campaign for governor of the Miyazaki Prefecture and won it in an atmosphere of complete dejection among voters with the political class. Most famous of all, however, was the victory of WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Jesse Ventura's win in Minnesota gubernatorial elections in 1998 when he defeated both the Democratic and Republican candidates.
Mann's rise comparatively is circumstantial but given that he lost no minute in siding with Kejriwal after the quarrel broke out in the party shows that he is equipped, besides a sense of humour, with political smarts. The reward that he has received from the party will encourage him to further burnish his 'loyalist' credentials.
THE FINAL WORD
