JOIN USKejriwal loyalists take a tough line
The pro-Arvind Kejriwal Delhi unit of AAP took on the ‘rival’ camp led by Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav on Monday, saying those who want to oust him as the national convenor must face disciplinary action.
The team Kejriwal, which claims credit for the Aam Aadmi Party’s landslide victory in Delhi, also accuses the duo of conspiring for its defeat.
Launching an offensive against the two senior leaders, the Delhi state secretary Dilip Pandey has demanded disciplinary action against them.
He has also charged that the two leaders helped the AAP Volunteers Action Manch (AVAM), a rebel faction, in the run-up to the Delhi elections.
AVAM had alleged that the AAP had accepted dubious donations from hawala sources, an allegation that was promptly denied by the party.
AAP Delhi state co-convenor Durgesh Pathak said the two senior AAP leaders wanted the party to lose in the Delhi polls so that they could remove Kejriwal as the national convenor.
Without denying charges levelled by Pathak, member of the Political Affairs Committee Sanjay Singh said the party will discuss the leakage of letters during the national executive meet on Wednesday and those responsible for the leak will face disciplinary action.
His statement comes amidst reports that both Yadav and Prashant Bhushan will be removed from the AAP’s highest decision making body.
Earlier, the two AAP leaders – sidelined by the party’s electioneering team – in a note to the members of the party’s national executive had raised questions about the party running a “person-centric” campaign in Delhi.
On the rift within the party, AAP Delhi state convenor Ashutosh said it is a clash between “ultra Left” and “pragmatic politics”.
“There is a decisive churn in the Aam Aadmi Party,” he added.
“It’s clash of ideas between ultra left who demand referendum in Kashmir and pragmatic politics of welfarism,” said Ashutosh on Twitter, in an apparent reference to Bhushan.