Even as Delhi is headed for fresh polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday suffered another setback with Delhi Assembly speaker and AAP leader MS Dhir alleging that the party lacks internal democracy. Reacting to the party’s decision of not giving him a ticket in the upcoming elections, he said he never applied for the same.
Indicating that he might join the BJP, he went on to appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the country has not seen such a PM in recent years. Following his accusations, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said that anyone denied a ticket would obviously talk of a lack of democracy in the party.
A day after the fledgling party denied giving him a ticket, Dhir lashed out at the party supremo and said that the party was led by only a few leaders. “There is lack of internal democracy in Aam Aadmi Party. As far as the party giving me a ticket is concerned, I never applied for it only. So the question
of ticket rejection does not arise,” said Dhir.
The AAP MlA from Jangpura also went on the appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the country has not seen such a PM in recent years, besides that Modi is taking the nation in right direction.
“Our nation has never seen a Prime Minister before who is taking the nation in the right direction; he is a great leader. The entire nation is praising Modi, and even Arvind has said that he’s a good man,” Dhir added.
Taking exception to Dhir’s accusation of the party lacking in internal democracy, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that anyone denied a ticket would obviously talk of a lack of democracy in the party. Kejriwal, however, clarified that ticket distribution had not taken place in the
party till now and reports about the same were just based on speculation.
According to sources within AAP, Dhir is set to lose his seat because of a combination of factors, including feedback from his constituency. However, the top leadership of the party is unimpressed by his performance as Speaker of the Delhi Assembly. “There are factions in the party’s leadership who believe Dhir did not handle the Assembly on February 14 well enough. The party had asked him to deal with the proceedings of the house firmly, but things went slightly out of hand. His performance as an area MlA has also not been very good too,” a senior leader said.