As the Aam Aadmi Party is still sunk in controversy over the allegedly “unfair” removal of senior leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), sources have said that the issue is on the agenda for discussion at the party’s National Council meeting to be held later this month. The 300 members of the national council of AAP are slated to meet once a year and this year, the meeting has been scheduled for March 28.
According to sources, many issues other than the removal of the leaders would also be discussed at the meeting. “Many issues, including removal of Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from the PAC, will be discussed at the meeting. There are other administrative issues, which are also likely to come up for hearing. However, there will be more clarity on agenda after national convener Arvind Kejriwal comes back from Bengaluru,” informed sources.
Kejriwal is currently recouping in Bengaluru. The Delhi Chief Minister is on a 10-day break and is seeking naturopathy owing to his persistent high sugar levels. Bhushan and Yadav were voted out from PAC in the national executive meeting held last week after a section of the party alleged they wanted to remove Kejriwal from the post of national convener. The National Council is the third most important body in the party after the all-powerful Political Affairs Committee and the National Executive. The last NC meet, held in February last year, saw a heated debate over former Minister Somnath Bharti courting controversy after leading a vigilante midnight raid on a Delhi colony and demanding that certain resident Africans be arrested for drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, in the past week AAP has been going through ups and downs with the recent rifts within the party. Senior leader Mayank Gandhi wrote two blogs. In the first blog, Gandhi expressed his disappointment with the way Yadav and Bhushan were removed while giving an idea of what transpired in that meeting of the National Executive. He indirectly hinted in his blog that the Delhi Unit of AAP was calling the shots and despite the fact that Yadav and Bhushan were ready to step down from the PAC, there was a motion passed against them.
In the second blog however, he addressed the various doubts and apprehensions of the volunteers and AAP supporters that he’d received. He clarified his stand on the issue and also cleansed the image of AAP saying it was still a party of the people and for the people. While Gandhi’s blog came as the first direct statement on the National Executive meeting from the party, it was followed by two more revelations. One, being senior leader Shanti Bhushan’s sister’s letter and two, spokesperson Ashutosh’s new book that spoke of Kejriwal.