The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal stamped his dominance over the party when two of his critics, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, were removed from the Political Affairs Committee, while his own offer of resignation as national convenor of AAP was unanimously turned down.
While one chapter of the bitter feud in AAP might have ended now, it may not be the end of the story. The decision to remove Bhushan and Yadav wasn't unanimous - in fact, as many as eight voted against it while 11 voted for - indicating that there are a number of people in the PAC who share some of the concerns raised by the Bhushan-Yadav duo.
Kejriwal himself stayed away from the meeting, possibly because of his poor health (he went to Bengaluru for naturopathy treatment of his very high sugar levels), but more likely to make the point that he was above the squabbling lot - in other words, truly the first among the so-called equals.
Kejriwal also avoided engaging with the Bhushan-Yadav duo on any of the issues raised by them. Even the duo, or one of them, is learnt to have sought a one-on-one meeting with Kejriwal but there was no response to the overture. At the end, he apparently insisted on their removal from the PAC as a precondition for his staying as the national convener. A fresh letter of resignation as national convener only reiterated his firm stand. There were serious efforts to bring about a reconciliation between Yadav, Bhushan and Kejriwal before PAC meeting. Many options were considered, including one where the duo would offer some kind of apology. Most senior leaders found this reasonable as they also didn't want the party's unity to be affected in any way.
However, when the leaders reached Kejriwal, he insisted on the duo's removal from PAC, indicating a rather quick graduation of AAP to hard-nosed power politics. Sources said that while many recognized that the issues raised by the duo were important and needed to be addressed, their presence in the PAC was untenable after the recent war of words.
At the meeting, Bhushan and Yadav suggested that the PAC be reconstituted, allowing new members to come in. This was, however, opposed by the Kejriwal loyalists, who insisted on a resolution seeking the removal of the duo. The resolution was moved by deputy CM Manish Sisodia and put to vote and the duo lost 8-11. Interestingly, some senior AAP leaders like Anand Kumar, Ajit Jha and Rakesh Sinha voted against their removal while Mumbai's Mayank Gandhi and treasurer Krishnakant Sevada abstained.
Sources said that considering that the resolution was backed by Kejriwal it was a democratic process of open voting that was followed without fear of recrimination. Kejriwal loyalists criticised Bhushan and Yadav at the meeting for not showing confidence in the Delhi election team. They pointed out that this lack of confidence was despite the team crafting a stunning win for AAP in the election. The duo's continuing criticism of the team only showed that they were out of synch with the popular mood.
AAP has accused Yadav and Bhushan of conspiring to unseat Kejriwal and working against the party's interests. Both leaders have, in the past few days, alleged that the three-year-old party has strayed from the core ideals of internal democracy and transparency that set it apart. The leadership battle was played out through several internal notes flying between two camps.
"I am deeply hurt and pained by what is going on in the party... I refuse to be drawn in this ugly battle," Kejriwal had tweeted, breaking his silence on the deep cracks in his party.
Mayank Gandhi criticises sacking of Yadav, Bhushan
Meanwhile, AAP leader Mayank Gandhi writes in a blog post that he was taken aback by the ouster of Yadav and Bhushan from the PAC. He adds that majority of AAP volunteers from all over the world did not want Yadav and Bhushan to be removed from the PAC.
Gandhi also claimed that on the night of 26 February, Kejriwal, during a party National Executive meet, "conveyed that he will not be able to work as Convenor, if these two members (Yadav and Bhushan) were part of the PAC. That was the background of the NE on 4th March."
Gandhi also apologised for "breaking the diktat of not speaking to anyone outside on what transpired in the National Executive meeting."
"Last night I was told that disciplinary action would be taken against me, if I revealed anything. So be it – my first allegiance is to the higher truth. Here is an essence of the meeting with regards to removal of YY and PB, based on my understanding. I would request NE to release the minutes of the meeting," Gandhi said in his blog post.
Gandhi also said that he abstained from voting during the meeting because he wanted Kejriwal to have no hurdles while working with the PAC. "Arvind needs a smooth working in the PAC. So, I agreed that PB and YY may be out of PAC and take some alternate important roles," he said.
"I was taken aback by the resolution of removing them publicly, especially as they themselves were willing to leave. Also, this decision to sack them was against the overwhelming sentiments of volunteers from all over the world," Gandhi added in his blog post.
