Close X
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
ADVT 
India

AAP Stares At Split As Internal Crisis Escalates

Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Mar, 2015 01:16 PM
    Less than two months after it stormed to power in Delhi, the AAP appeared set for a split with the party saying on Thursday that senior leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav had quit its national executive and the two men vehemently denying this.
     
    Making the announcement two days before the executive meets here, AAP spokesman Ashish Khetan said Bhushan and Yadav appeared dead set against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the party's best known face who assumed office on February 14.
     
    "They say one thing in private and another in public," Khetan told the media, adding he had been involved in days of close-door discussions with both men over issues confronting India's youngest political party.
     
    The comments came two days ahead of the Aam Aadmi Party's national executive meeting where both sides -- the Kejriwal camp and supporters of Bhushan and Yadav -- could have had a showdown.
     
    Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia added that close-door talks with Bhushan and Yadav had failed as they were adamant that Kejriwal must go as the party's all-powerful national convener.
     
    “No effort to remove Kejriwal is acceptable to me," added Sisodia, a long-time confidant of the chief minister.
     
    “Despite accepting all their demands, they are insisting (on the removal of) AK," he added, referring to Kejriwal. "In public they say AK is the leader, in private they insist on his removal."
     
    Another AAP leader, Kumar Vishwas, said all the five proposals of Bhushan and Yadav were accepted by the party but their demand for axing Kejriwal as the national convener would only be decided by the national executive.
     
    In the mounting war of words, Bhushan and Yadav denied the charges made against them. A defiant Bhushan added that Kejriwal wanted only "yes men" around him and not those with independent views.
     
    Both are to hold a press conference on Friday, a development that could generate more heat.
     
    A founder member of the AAP and a leading Supreme Court advocate, Bhushan told the media that it was a lie to say that he and Yadav wanted to see Kejriwal step down as the national convenor.
     
    "This is a lie, we never made this demand," he said. "All we have asked for is transparency in the party."
     
    Yadav, a known political expert, agreed and asked Kejriwal loyalists to produce his resignation letter -- if he had indeed resigned.
     
    "What is being passed off as 'resignation letter' is a note for internal negotiations," Yadav said in a tweet.
     
    He said it was "ridiculous" to say he and Bhushan demanded Kejriwal's removal as the national convenor.
     
    "This wasn't mentioned in our note, never came up for discussion. Can they give any proof?" he asked.
     
    Yadav added: "I hear funny news about the PAC (Political Affairs Committee) accepting our resignation. Will my colleagues please produce a copy of the resignation letter?"
     
    The AAP has been embroiled in an internal tussle after taking power in Delhi last month, with the pro-Kejriwal camp accusing Bhushan and Yadav of trying to oust the chief minister. Both have denied the charge.
     
    Bhushan and Yadav were sacked from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the party's top decision making body, earlier this month in the first open sign that all was not well with the AAP.
     
    That was accompanied by a war of words between Bhushan and Yadav on the one hand and known supporters of Kejriwal on the other. 
     
    Once Kejriwal returned to New Delhi after 10 days of naturopathy in Bengaluru, the situation calmed -- publicly -- but the two factions held a series of close-door discussions to sort out various issues.
     
    From the dramatic developments on Thursday, efforts to bring about a unity between the two groups appear to have fizzled out.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    All PIOs are now overseas citizens of India: Government

    All PIOs are now overseas citizens of India: Government
    The government Friday announced that all Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card holders will be deemed to be Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders.

    All PIOs are now overseas citizens of India: Government

    I Was Libidinous Since School: Uber Cab Driver Tells Police

    I Was Libidinous Since School: Uber Cab Driver Tells Police
    "I was libidinous from my school days," Uber taxi driver Shiv Kumar Yadav, accused of raping a 27-year-old woman executive in his cab Dec 5 last year, told Delhi Police during the probe.

    I Was Libidinous Since School: Uber Cab Driver Tells Police

    Birmingham City University to develop e-F1 car with Indian varsities

    Birmingham City University to develop e-F1 car with Indian varsities
    Birmingham City University is all set to ink tieups with three universities in India this week for developing an electronic Formula 1 car, its vice chancellor, Cliff Allan, has said.

    Birmingham City University to develop e-F1 car with Indian varsities

    Congress will again back AAP if needed: Dikshit

    Congress will again back AAP if needed: Dikshit
    The Congress was ready to support an AAP government again in the event of a hung assembly in the capital, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit said Thursday

    Congress will again back AAP if needed: Dikshit

    Punjab offers incentives to curb stubble burning

    Punjab offers incentives to curb stubble burning
    To curb the menace of straw burning in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Thursday announced incentives of Rs.1 lakh and Rs.1 crore as financial grants to villages and districts which were free from stubble burning across the state

    Punjab offers incentives to curb stubble burning

    Diaspora's strength can be driving force for India: Modi

    Diaspora's strength can be driving force for India: Modi
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said every NRI is like a "shakti" and if the strength of the entire diaspora can be consolidated, it could become a driving force for India's progress

    Diaspora's strength can be driving force for India: Modi