The AAP on Tuesday came under fire for releasing the audio of a conversation with a journalist, which was recorded without her knowledge. The party faced criticism for tapping conversations and using uninformed audio recordings to fulfil their personal vendetta.
In a letter written by AAP’s Delhi secretary Dilip Pandey to the national executive, there was mention of a “negative story” published in The Hindu in the last week of August 2014. The letter said, “The story was negative and clearly meant to tarnish the image of the party and its convener Arvind Kejriwal.
The story was not only factually incorrect, but also seemed to be motivated by vested interests. When the journalist who did the story was confronted as to why the facts were misrepresented, she said it could not be so as she was briefed by Yogendra Yadav himself. This whole conversation was recorded and is available as evidence. This incident further substantiates the factum of the larger conspiracy to weaken the party.”
Subsequently, the recording which was uploaded online was linked to this piece of information in the letter. The recording was reportedly done by Kejriwal’s secretary Bibhav Kumar who further gave it out to party members after which it was leaked. The audio clip was also played at national executive meeting to corner Yogendra Yadav, said party sources.
However, the incident has been severely criticised from the entire media fraternity due to breach of faith and making the recording without letting the journalist know. When confronted about the same, party leaders said, “The recording was meant for internal party purposes, to confront the issue of information leaking in the media. It was not supposed to be leaked. We don’t know who did so.”