AAP purge continues, dissidents offloaded and cut to size

Kejriwal keen on focusing on AAP agitation against Land bill

After a late night expulsion of "dissidents" Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, who are also founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party AAP, the party today removed Patiala MP Dharamvir Gandhi as its Parliamentary party leader in the Lok Sabha. He has been replaced with Bhagwant Mann. Gandhi had been highly critical of the "dictatorial" and undemocratic manner in which the party was operating. Party chief Arvind Kejriwal was reportedly keen on shifting the focus to the party's agitation against the Land bill kicking off from Jantar Mantar tomorrow where Kejriwal will address them.

The quartet was removed summarily by the Disciplinary Committee on the grounds of committing "anti-party" activities; which was strongly rebutted by Prashant Bhushan who described AAP as a "Khaap panchayat." Yadav trashed the proceedings that were initiated against them questioning how Pankaj Gupta and Ashish Khetan who had complained against them had now sat as 'judge' on the Disciplinary committee.

The outspoken Patiala MP Dharamvir Gandhi had been vocal against the "undemocratic" manner in which Yadav and Bhushan had been ousted from the National Executive. He had even walked out of the AAP's National Council meeting on March 28 in protest and had sent a video message to the Swaraj Samvad convention organised by the rebel camp. Gandhi was replaced as Lok Sabha party leader by Kejriwal loyalist Bhagwant Mann.

Speaking to Business Standard, Anand Kumar said, "It's a tragedy, a dream of alternative politics has been wrecked by a handful of people who are drunk on power." Kumar who has been appointed as Convenor of the Swaraj Abhiyaan movement launched by the "AAP dissident " camp, said they would be carrying on undeterred with their agenda for participatory democracy through the Abhiyaan. The rebel camp says there are no immediate plans in launching a party just yet.

Reacting to his ouster, Yogendra Yadav in a Facebook post tody said, "We will try to create a new model and we will connect with people who share this belief with us," he said. He "It isn't possible that those who are complainants become judges. They (Gupta and Khetan) have in writing and in public made allegations against us. And yesterday they sat on the judgement for those very allegations. This is extraordinary," Yadav said.

Meanwhile both camps traded charges against each other with Bhushan reiterating his allegations against former journalist and now AAP Disciplinary committee member Asish Khetan; that he had "planted" stories on behalf of a corporate while he was in Tehelka. The verbal volley saw Khetan threatening to expose the Bhushans.

"Those who take government land everywhere, capture houses...how can they call others corrupt. How did Bhushans build the empire...by making an industry of PILs," said Khetan questioning the source of Bhushan's Rs 500 crore assets.