AAP core panel to reach out to Yadav, Bhushan

Sanjay Singh told we have already started working to normalise the situation in the party

After a bitter spat between core members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a process of rapprochement has begun. The party's highest decision-making body, the political affairs committee (PAC), met in the capital on Tuesday evening and decided to reach out to leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, earlier ousted from the body.

At a meeting held at party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's house, it was decided the involvement of volunteers in the party's decision-making process would be enhanced. AAP sources said Kejriwal and other leaders expressed concern over the party's image taking a hit following the bitter fight within the ranks in the past two weeks.

"We have already started working to normalise the situation in the party. We have taken a step forward, as we have already met Yadav," party senior Sanjay Singh told reporters after the two-hour meeting.

Singh said the PAC had also decided to expand the party in other states, something Yadav had also favoured. "The party will prepare a list of active volunteers across the country. They will be given importance in decision-making in the organisation. We have also decided to form a committee on how to increase volunteer participation," he said.

An attempt at reconciliation between the warring factions had begun on Monday, after Prashant Bhushan sent Kejriwal an SMS, urging they resolve their differences. Bhushan told the media Kejriwal had responded to his message, saying, "Busy with vote-on-account; will meet someday in the days to come."

Within hours of Kejriwal returning to the capital from Bangalore on Monday night, senior party leaders Sanjay Singh, Kumar Vishwas, Ashish Khetan and Ashutosh visited Yogendra Yadav. The meeting continued till about 3 am.

"There is peace after a three-hour sleep. There is peace now. We will be successful," Kumar Vishwas tweeted on Tuesday morning.

At the party's national executive meeting on March 4, Yadav and Bhushan had been voted out of the PAC, as it was alleged they had working against the party and tried to malign Kejriwal's image.