Bid to sabotage AAP, says Sanjay Singh

* March 4 meeting may see yadav, prashant bhushan removed from top party body

The rift between a section of the senior leadership of the AAP and party leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan grew more pronounced on Monday morning with PAC member Sanjay Singh holding a press conference and alleging that “there were constant attempts to sabotage the AAP and its national convener Arvind Kejriwal”.

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Singh also announced that a National Executive meeting would be held on March 4, where the events of the past two days would be discussed. Sources said both Yadav and Bhushan would be excluded from the Political Affairs Committee, the party’s highest political decision-making body.

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On Monday morning, AAP Delhi convener Ashutosh, in an apparent reference to Bhushan, tweeted, “The decisive churning in AAP. It’s clash of ideas between ultra left who demand referendum in Kashmir and pragmatic politics of welfarism.”

Yadav posted on social media, “I have been listening to and reading reports about Prashant Bhushan and myself. New stories are being woven, new conspiracies are being found. When I read these, I laugh and I feel sad. I laugh because these stories are foundationless and baseless. Those weaving the story must have little time, and lots of imagination. I feel sad seeing the intent behind these reports. After the people of Delhi gave us such a big win, it is time for big work, with all our mind. I can only appeal that we don’t allow our petty actions to make our hope small. I only pray for good sense.”

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The details of a letter written by Dilip Pandey, secretary of the Delhi unit of the party, to the Disciplinary Committee were also revealed. Pandey alleged that Yadav, Bhushan and his father Shanti Bhushan had carried out several “anti party activities”. In the letter written to Pankaj Gupta, National Secretary and member of this committee, Pandey said that Shanti Bhushan had helped Yadav conspire to take over as National Convener over a period of time, and that the three leaders had “facilitated the formation of an anti party forum called AVAM” and made all kinds of “allegations without substantive proof during the candidate selection process”.

In response, Yadav told ANI, “Dilip Pandey is a model of honesty, he differs with me — doesn’t make him bad; in politics, (we) need to learn to live with differences. People believe that we are a party with a difference and (we) must, must maintain that.”

At the press conference at the AAP office, Sanjay Singh said,”Arvind Kejriwal has been working day and night to keep this party together. There is a conspiracy to remove this person. There are constant attempts to sabotage. Do you think that the NE which decided to keep Kejriwal as a Convener, will want to remove him?”

He added, “For the last two days, Admiral Ramdas’s letter leak is doing the rounds. People are throwing various kinds of allegations at us. If there is a problem in the party, discussion should happen within the party. If this happens outside, it does not remain an internal conflict, but turns into something else.”

While AAP announced the next NE meeting was scheduled for March 4, Prashant Bhushan has asked for a postponement, since he would not be in the city that day, AAP sources said.

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