‘Kejriwal insisted Yadav, Bhushan should be out’

Gandhi also said the removal of the two leaders “was against the overwhelming sentiments of volunteers from all over the world”.

A day after Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were removed from the Aam Aadmi Party’s political affairs committee, the aftershocks continued on Thursday.

In a blog post today, National Executive member Mayank Gandhi claimed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had insisted on the ouster of the two leaders.

“On 26th February night, when members of the National Executive went to meet him, Arvind conveyed that he will not be able to work as convenor, if these two members (Yadav, Bhushan) were part of the PAC. That was the background of the National Executive on 4th March,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, speaking to The Indian Express today, Bhushan said the “manner of the decision has created a perception among volunteers that the party is not united”.

“I think the volunteers, the supporters and well-wishers of the party wanted a different kind of resolution, and they wanted to see a united party… the manner in which the decision was taken has disappointed a lot of them,” said Bhushan.

Gandhi also said the removal of the two leaders “was against the overwhelming sentiments of volunteers from all over the world”.

Bhushan and Yadav were removed after a tumultuous week, as sharp differences emerged between the senior leadership of the party, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal even offering to resign as national convenor — the National Executive rejected his proposal.

Bhushan said he had told Kejriwal that “one of his weaknesses” was that “he wants to take unilateral decisions”. “We have not spoken to each other for a long time. However, I did try to have a one-to-one meeting with him and I sent him a message the day before yesterday, but unfortunately there was no response,” he said.

On his blog, where he admitted that he was breaking party discipline by speaking on the National Executive meeting, Gandhi said: “Yogendra said he understood that Arvind did not want them in the PAC as it was difficult to him to work together. He and Prashant would be happy to stay out of the PAC, but they should not be singled out. Two formulas were put forward by him. That the PAC be reconstituted and new PAC members be elected through voting — Bhushan and Yadav would not put their candidature. That the PAC continue to function in the present form and Yadav and Bhushan would not attend any of the meetings.”

“The meeting broke for some time and Manish (Sisodia) and others conferred with the Delhi team of Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh, Dilip Pandey and others. After reassembling, Manish proposed a resolution that Yadav and Bhushan be removed from the PAC and it was seconded by Sanjay Singh,” he said.

“During the Delhi campaign, Bhushan had threatened multiple times that he would hold press conference against the party, because of his concerns on candidate selection… It was alleged that Yogendra Yadav was conspiring against Arvind and some evidence was produced. There were also operational irreconcilable differences and trust deficit between AK, PB and YY (Kejriwal, Bhushan, Yadav),” he said.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal, who was admitted to a naturopathy institute in Bangalore on Thursday, told Headlines Today: “I am really pained by the developments, I am only interested in Delhi.”

Backing him, National Executive member Naveen Jaihind, tweeted: “Some people want to bring AAP and Kejriwal to an end. A very big conspiracy is taking place. Is Kejriwal a dictator? Is he Hitler? Is he dishonest? Is it wrong for Kejriwal to be noble? Yes?”.

In another tweet, he said: “This is discipline? Yesterday, in the NE meeting it had been finalised that no one will speak to the media. Only those authorised will speak. If Arvind is silent, is he wrong? No.”

Khetan also tweeted: “The paradox is that thousands of people who worked very hard to build this party, they can neither write articles, nor are they skilled in the art of giving TV interviews. Some people will give TV interviews day and night, some will work for the development of Delhi and the country day and night. Some people will write blogs, some will write history.”

Maharashtra leader Anjali Damania too took to Twitter. “Now just enough… Can’t take this anymore… @AapYogendra @mayankgandhi04 I have series of questions for both of you & I want answers in public… Volunteers need clarifications… I am not talking of PB (Prashant Bhushan). He is a crusader. I respect him from the bottom of my heart. I am talking of leaders who don’t know how to behave,” she tweeted.

Another National Executive Rakesh Sinha said, “There are no camps in AAP, the party members have different views about some issues but the truth will soon come out and it’s not that Mayank Gandhi has the ultimate truth.”

Speaking to the media today, Yadav said: “Do not write off the Aam Aadmi Party… Sometimes people talk about the Aam Aadmi Party in the past tense but there is something in this party that it rises again.”

Source:: Indian Express