Former Aam Aadmi Party ombudsman Admiral (retd) l Ramdas on Sunday expressed his “surprise” and “sadness” over his “discourteous” removal from the party’s internal lokpal saying that he was disappointed that the leadership of the party didn’t inform him before making the decision public. He added less than two weeks ago, the party had “reaffirmed” its confidence in him and thus, he didn’t expect being removed from the lokpal.
“It is with great surprise and sadness that I heard today from a reporter that the Aam Aadmi Party no longer requires my services as it’s internal lokpal. Various media reports have subsequently confirmed this news. I am disappointed that the leadership of the party did not accord me the courtesy of informing me first before making this decision public,” said Ramdas.
The former Navy chief has been the party’s lokpal since its inception. His removal came a day after he was sent an SMS by party’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta, asking him not to attend the National Council meeting to avoid “confrontation”.
He added, “I am surprised because less than two weeks ago the party publicly reaffirmed its confidence in me. At no point in my tenure did the party express to me any dissatisfaction with my service. Neither did its leaders question my neutrality or my objectivity in this position.”
According to Ramdas, he was even asked by the party to consider serving an additional five years as the ombudsman. He elaborated, “As recently as January 2015, I was asked to investigate complaints against potential electoral candidates. I took it as a sign of the party’s confidence in me when on February 15, at an informal meeting at the home of Arvind Kejriwal, in the presence of many other senior leaders of the party, including members of the Executive Committee, I was actually requested to consider serving an additional five years as lokpal.”
The party leadership is reportedly upset with him for writing a letter to the members of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and National Executive (NE) last month in which he was critical of the party’s functioning. He also noted about two camps emerging within top leadership and had asked the party to consider ‘one-man, one-post’ arrangement.
Ramdas said that he was more sad than surprised at his removal. “It was with a sense of excitement and hope that I became part of this movement to bring a new kind of politics to India. I believed in the ideals of transparency, accountability and fairness that were encapsulated in the institution of the lokpal. And, I was honoured to be the first person to serve in this capacity. I have tried to discharge my duties and responsibilities to the best of my abilities,” he added.
Ramdas also made mention of the two letters written by him which were made public recently. He shared, “My two previous letters, one which became public, the other which was intended to be public, reflected my effort to encourage the various leaders of the party to work together to remember the principles on which it was founded and to make sure that the promises made to the electorate — to the people — were fulfilled. Unfortunately I did not succeed in that effort.”
However, he wished the party well while signing off. He said, “I still hope that the party which has fired the imagination and hopes of so many Indians will be able to fulfil its promises of good governance, both internally and externally, in the exercise of political power in its new capacity as the Government of Delhi. I wish them well in this endeavour.”