IANS/New Delhi
Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav yesterday said there was “no bargaining” at the meeting which decided to drop him and Prashant Bhushan from the party’s top decision-making body.
“I wish to say clearly there was no bargaining in yesterday’s (Wednesday) meeting (of the National Executive). The party has taken a decision, we should not discuss (its) proceedings,” Yadav told reporters.
Bhushan, a leading Supreme Court lawyer and an AAP founder member, and Yadav, a known political expert, were ousted from the nine-member Political Affairs Committee (PAC).
The charge against them was led by loyalists of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who did not attend the the meeting as he flew to Bengaluru for treatment for blood sugar and persistent cough.
Yadav’s comments followed revelations by AAP leader Mayank Gandhi, who attended the meeting.
Gandhi said Yadav and Bhushan had agreed to quit the PAC but were ejected by majority vote.
He quoted Yadav and Bhushan as saying that Kejriwal did not want them in the PAC.
Both were willing to stay out of the PAC provided they were not singled out and also put forth two formulas for the purpose, Gandhi said.
Yadav and Bhushan suggested a reconstitution of the nine-member PAC with new members elected through voting in which they would not contest.
Second, the PAC could continue in the present form but with Yadav and Bhushan not attending its 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,” Gandhi said in his blog on Wednesday night.
Sisodia, who is Delhi’s deputy chief minister, as well as Khetan, Ashutosh, Pandey and Sanjay Singh are all considered Kejriwal loyalists. Some of them made stinging comments against Bhushan and Yadav ahead of the meeting, virtually accusing them of staging a revolt against the chief minister.
Gandhi said he abstained from voting along with some others at the National Executive meeting as he had agreed that Bhushan and Yadav may remain out of the PAC and get some other responsibilities as Kejriwal needed a smoother working of the panel.
“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 said.
Hence, though he agreed Yadav and Bhushan should step down from the PAC, the manner and intention behind the resolution was not acceptable and so he abstained from voting.
Gandhi, who is the convener of the Maharashtra unit of the party, argued that his revelations did not tantamount to a revolt or a publicity ploy and he was prepared for any repercussions.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal was yesterday admitted to a private hospital on Bengaluru’s outskirts.
“We will do a health check-up and conduct a few tests for prescribing our treatment which is based on naturopathy,” Jindal Naturecure Institute chief medical officer Babina Nandakumar said.
On arrival from New Delhi on an Air India flight with his parents Gobind Ram and Gita Devi, 46-year-old Kejriwal was greeted and cheered by hundreds of AAP volunteers and supporters at the airport.
Declining an official car arranged by the Karnataka government, Kejriwal drove to the institute on the National Highway (NH-4) on the city’s northwest suburb in the car of the party’s state unit convener Prithvi Reddy.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal waves to supporters after arriving at the Bengaluru airport yesterday.
