Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founder member Shanti Bhushan on Thursday created a flutter by praising BJP’s CM candidate Kiran Bedi and calling BJP’s move, to field her, a “masterstroke”. The senior AAP member also claimed that “everything is not right” in AAP.
Reacting to this, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav expressed shock and said, “How can Shanti Bhushan support a party which he has, since Day One, called communal and still repeatedly calls soIJ”
Senior AAP leaders also claimed that Bhushan’s remark showed there was “inner democracy” in the party and said the views expressed by him were “personal” and didn’t reflect the party’s opinion.
Bhushan, who is a senior Supreme Court lawyer, sparked a controversy after he said that if Bedi becomes the Chief Minister, Anna Hazare would be very happy. He also termed her role in the Hazare-led anti-corruption movement as “influential”.
“Kiran Bedi’s joining BJP is a masterstroke. I feel that bringing her into the party and making her the CM nominee was a great thing because Bedi in Anna’s movement was with (Arvind) Kejriwal and Prashant (Bhushan) and her contribution there was influential as a crusader of corruption,” said Bhushan who was one of the crucial donors while forming Aam Aadmi Party. Bhushan had donated Rs1 crore.
Reacting to Bhushan’s flowery words for her, Bedi simply thanked the veteran and refused to comment further.
Bhushan also called for a “reorientation” within AAP saying all was not well in the party and it was not being run following its founding principles. “Reorientation within AAP is very much needed. Their stress must be on reforming political system, improving political standards. I think everything is not right in the party and it is not being run on lines it was expected to run or what it was established for,” he said.
His comments evoked cautious reaction from AAP. Convener Arvind Kejriwal said, “We have an internal lokpal within the party that only recently took a decision to replace two candidates. His comments go on to prove that the party has internal democracy.”
The party’s Delhi convener Ashutosh said that Bhushan is entitled to his views and they have no party endorsement. “He’s a senior member and he has the right to have his opinion. We don’t subscribe or endorse his views. However, the party he criticised as the most corrupt party and appealed to people that they should not vote for it as it does not want to come under RTI is the same party she joined... It shows that it is an iconic political somersault and opportunism on her behalf,” he said.
This is not the first time Bhushan has been critical of AAP as he has raised questions on Kejriwal’s organisational abilities and internal democracy in the party in the past as well.