With his startup in danger of self-destructing, the IITian firefights flames of internal dissent
Grappling with bitter infighting, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday attempted to reach out to the dissidents by offering to restructure the party and claimed that all the ‘differences’ among the leaders have been resolved. As party’s National Executive met for the second successive day, Kejriwal put up a brave front claiming that things are going smooth and there will be an organisational restructuring soon, including possible expansion of AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the highest making body. The meeting, attended by almost all senior AAP leaders, came in the backdrop of growing voices of dissent against Kejriwal, including his style of functioning by senior party leader Yogendra Yadav.
“Resignations will be discussed on Sunday. All things are going smooth and differences are resolved. We are discussing organisational structure. Expansion of PAC could be possible,” Kejriwal said. He also said that efforts will be made to bring back Shazia Ilmi who had quit the party last month while slamming Kejriwal. later in the evening, key member Prashant Bhushan too said the AAP will reveal its ‘roadmap’ for future on Sunday as he also voiced confidence of bringing Shazia back to the party fold.
The National Executive meeting, attended by party leaders from across the country, has been called to review AAP’s dismal performance in the lok Sabha polls and to chalk out the future course of action, including preparations for the next Delhi assembly polls. Rift in the party’s top leadership emerged after exchange of letters between Yadav and Manish Sisodia. A number of other leaders are also apparently unhappy over Kejriwal’s functioning, which some of them termed as ‘autocratic’. “Yog (Yogendra Yadav) has raised some important issues. All of us will work on it. Yog Yadav is a v (very) dear friend and a v (very) valued colleague. Had long discussion with him...,” Kejriwal tweeted earlier in the day. In another tweet, he said, “We will also try to get Shazia back.”
Ilmi and Yadav, known to be a key strategist, have been sharply critical of Kejriwal after the party’s lS debacle. Yadav, who quit from PAC, had charged the party with ‘falling prey to personality cult’ while Ilmi had alleged that Kejriwal was surrounded by a ‘coterie’ and that the party lacked internal democracy. Meanwhile, another National Council member of AAP and a founder member, Anil Bhardwaj on Saturday alleged that there was no internal democracy within the party and said all leaders in the unit were fighting to be a member of the PAC. The letter, directed to the PAC, said after the poll debacle, all senior leaders indulged in blame game that brought a bad name to the party. Bhardwaj also demanded decentralising the power to other units in the party other than the PAC.