The national executive meeting of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) scheduled for Wednesday is expected to see fireworks as senior leader Prashant Bhushan has dropped his prior commitments and come to the national Capital to attend the meeting.
There is speculation that the meeting will end with senior leaders Yogendra Yadav and Bhushan’s removal from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC). However, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not be attending the meeting due to health issues.
The meeting, which is being held to put an end to the internal battle in the party, is a highly-anticipated one. Sources had claimed on Monday that the meeting would most definitely see the removal of Yadav and Bhushan from the PAC due to the ongoing rift between the duo and Kejriwal.
However, Kejriwal will not be there when the national executive meets to decide the fate of its two senior leaders. Sources said that Kejriwal will not attend the meeting and has given ill-health and official commitment as the reason for it. He is expected to leave for Bengaluru to get naturopathy treatment for his escalating sugar levels.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal had said that he was hurt by the current rumblings in the party and would focus on Delhi. “Deeply hurt and pained by what is going on in the party; this is betrayal of trust that Delhi reposed in us,” Kejriwal said in a tweet. He added. “I refuse to be drawn into this ugly battle. Will concentrate on Delhi’s governance. Will not let people’s trust break under any circumstances.”
The earlier national executive meeting which was held on February 25 was a heated one where Kejriwal had also tendered his resignation as the national convener and the same was declined. Subsequently, there were a series of letter leaks which confirmed the ongoing rift in the party. Sources also revealed that Yadav was hankering for the position of national convener and hence wanted Kejriwal to be removed. However, the party on Monday made it clear that Kejriwal would in no way be removed from the national convener’s position.
The party also said that during Wednesday’s meeting, this matter would be put to rest once and for all and sources had confirmed that this would mean that the Yadav-Bhushan duo would be removed.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, there was also a war of words among these leaders on the social media after Bhushan openly accused the party of going against their ideals. He reportedly said that while “Kejriwal can compromise on ideals but I cannot”. The same was also refuted by the party leaders where Ashish Khetan accused the Bhushan family of wanting to take over AAP and making it a “family party.”