AAP's Dhir praises Modi

'Disgruntled' leader questions inner-party democracy

 The list of disgruntled AAP leaders got bigger on Monday with party MLA and the Speaker of the outgoing Delhi Assembly Maninder Singh Dhir praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accusing the party of lacking inner-party democracy.

Dhir’s rift with the party surfaced after being allegedly denied ticket for the impending Delhi Assembly elections.

Putting him in the dock, senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said Dhir never expressed his admiration for Modi during internal party meetings.

“Whole nation is lauding Modi, his actions have sent out a positive message,” Dhir said, while talking to a Hindi news channel. He alleged that a few party workers in his constituency went behind his back to run a negative campaign against him within the party.

Sources in the party suggest that they didn’t receive a positive feedback from his constituency.

“It is out in open that he didn’t do well in his constituency. He and a few other obvious names have been excluded from the party’s list that is going to be released this week,” an AAP leader said.

But Dhir claimed that he enjoys popularity amongst his constituents. “In many areas, women and men had to defecate in open spaces. However, 437 public toilets are being built and many sewer line projects are allocated. After trying for 10 years, residents are finally getting roads in areas like Sarai Kale Khan and Nangli,” the former Jangpura MLA said in his self-assessment report submitted to the party.
He said he undertook 75 projects, conducted 38 mohalla sabhas and spent Rs 3.1 crore from his MLA Local Area Development Scheme fund.

Refutes allegations

Refuting allegations that he has been denied a party ticket, Dhir said, “I have not applied for a ticket. From where does the question of ticket cancellation come?”
AAP rebel and former Laxmi Nagar MLA Vinod Kumar Binny on Saturday launched a direct attack on party chief Arvind Kejriwal. Alleging that he has “flopped”, Binny said he will contest from the New Delhi constituency – from where the former chief minister had won in the last Assembly election.

The first list of for the impending polls will be out this week. Rajesh Garg and Harish Khanna, MLAs from Rohini and Timarpur respectively, had already expressed their unwillingness to fight the forthcoming elections, alleging “lack of internal democracy”.

Sources said the party has decided not to field their disgruntled leaders. Trilokpuri legislator Raju Dhingan and Seemapuri legislator Dharmendra Singh Kohli are also out of race.