‘In-charge’ Bharti in jail, AAP goes ahead with ‘hangout’ session

In a recent reshuffle, Bharti was appointed ‘sah-prabhari’ with independent charge for seven states — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshwadeep. While he was touring these states, the case of domestic violence and attempt to murder, filed by his wife Lipika Mitra, came up in the capital.

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On Thursday, when AAP media in-charge Deepak Bajpai invited questions for the hangout session for the same seven states, to be held at 7 pm on Friday, the brewing turmoil was hard to miss.

Last week, after the Delhi High Court turned down Bharti’s anticipatory bail plea, the Malviya Nagar MLA went absconding, even as the Delhi Police pursued him relentlessly. Despite repeated messages by the party to surrender before the police, Bharti refused to surface till the Supreme Court turned down his bail plea and gave him a deadline to surrender.

Senior AAP leaders have been defending Bharti in public, but a debate has been raging within closed circles over his ouster. While some support the tainted legislator, others have told the party top brass that they are “fed up” of Bharti’s “antics” and warned that keeping him in the party would mean more “damage to its image”.

Asked about the possibility of Bharti’s ouster or removal from party posts, senior party leaders failed to speak in one voice.

“Somnath Bharti continues to be the in-charge of these states and there is no question of replacing him. This is a routine exercise of engaging with workers and volunteers across the country. Several such hangouts are held often with other states too,” said Bajpai.

But senior leader Ashutosh told The Indian Express, “This is an effort at boosting and building confidence in the volunteers. They should feel connected with the party and should be made aware of the goings-on. Just because Bharti is not there does not mean work will not go on.”

On whether Bharti will continue to hold party posts, Ashutosh said, “I am not saying we will (remove him) neither am I saying we won’t.”