A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) faced a major embarrassment with its leader Kumar Vishwas praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party put up a brave front on Wednesday and defended the poet-turned-politician by saying “his creative works need not be seen with a political colour”.
However, some members within the fledgling party opine that as Vishwas already preferred to be away from the limelight ever since its lok Sabha debacle, his comments on Modi would only further alienate him from AAP. Meanwhile, the party’s top leadership, on Wednesday, met Delhi lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and asked him to withdraw the letter to the President seeking his permission to invite the BJP to form Government in Delhi.
On the face of it, AAP defended Vishwas’ statements praising Modi saying politics should not be seen in his works as a poet. “What is wrong if he said that he would write a poem encouraging Indian soldier fighting for the nation at the borders, if the PM asks him toIJ Vishwas is a poet and people should not see politics in his creative engagements,” said Dilip Pandey, party spokesperson.
A few members within the party feel that with his comments, Vishwas has further distanced itself from AAP. At a period which was one of the most difficult times for the party after its sudden resignation from Delhi Government, Vishwas was rarely seen at party forums. He has largely been not taking part in party activities after his humiliating defeat in Amethi. Sources within the party said he was angry with Arvind Kejriwal for not giving sufficient time for campaigning in Amethi.
While the party promptly tried to douse Vishwas’ issue, it met Jung on Wednesday to ask him to withdraw the letter to the President seeking his permission to invite the BJP to form Government in Delhi. “We have submitted the CD of our sting operation which shows BJP trying to buy our MlA for Rs4 crore. We requested the lG to watch the video. We also asked him to revise the September 4 letter he sent to President Pranab Mukherjee in which, in a way, he has sought permission to invite BJP for Government formation,” said Manish Sisodia, AAP leader who accompanied party chief Arvind Kejriwal during the meeting.
The AAP leader accused BJP of indulging in horse trading to form the Government in Delhi. “Even if BJP forms the Government by horse trading, the problems of Delhi will not be solved. Such a Government will be a burden on the people of Delhi and forming Government this way will be betraying them,” said Sisodia. At the meeting, AAP asked Jung to dissolve the Delhi Assembly. Sisodia said that if required they will submit the CD to the President.
AAP’s meeting with Jung comes a day after the Supreme Court gave the Central Government a month to end the deadlock over Government formation in Delhi.