‘Candidate selection widened AAP rift’

The AAP then constituted the Complaints Committee, which included Ashish Khaitan, Anand Kumar and Rishikesh.

The rift in the senior leadership of the Aam Aadmi Party, that has been going on for the past few months, has spanned a variety of issues — from angry debates on party processes, to candidate selection, to public outbursts by members in the run-up to the Delhi elections. These issues were again brought up at the National Executive meeting on last Thursday, where things came to a boil after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal offered his resignation as the national convener.

The proposal was rejected and instead moved to give Kejriwal the right to reconstitute the Political Affairs Committee (PAC). On Sunday, The Indian Express had reported that in a note written to the National Executive, AAP internal Lokpal Admiral Ramdas had spoken about a rift in the party. “There has been a complete breakdown in communication resulting in two camps,” the note stated.

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Sources said things began to sour towards the end of 2014 during the candidate selection process. “Kejriwal was reluctant to contest for the Lok Sabha elections from seats across India. But Yogendra Yadav and others were of the opinion that the AAP should expand. Even in Haryana, the party had been told that the AAP would get 23 per cent seats, but eventually got four per cent. In the months after, there was a public exchange of letters where Yadav questioned the AAP’s direction and leadership. But things became worse from November 2014 onwards, especially with the candidate selection process,” the source said.

Ahead of the Assembly elections, Delhi Election Campaign Group was formed to look at the candidates’ selection process, among other things.

“Since Yadav is essentially a Haryana leader, he was not made part of this group. Prashant Bhushan too did not find a place in it. However, the two expressed reservations on at least 12 candidates, questioning if they passed the ‘three C’ test (criminality, character and corruption),” the source said.

The AAP then constituted the Complaints Committee, which included Ashish Khaitan, Anand Kumar and Rishikesh.

“But complaints against candidates persisted, with Yadav and Bhushan continuing their protest. It was then decided that Admiral Ramdas, the internal Lokpal, would have the final word. After an investigation, two candidates were replaced while 10 complaints were dismissed. At the National Executive, the fact that only two of the nine-member Polical Affairs Committee — Yadav and Bhushan — took exception to the candidates was brought up,” a senior leader said.

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A section of the party said there was anger because “Prashant Bhushan only attended one jansabha at Timarpur and did not campaign for the party”.

“Things got worse when days before the elections, Shanti Bhushan spoke out against Kejriwal and instead praised Kiran Bedi. While Prashant Bhushan contradicted his father on Bedi, he did not counter the allegation against Kejriwal,” the source said.

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