 "Bhushan removed from AAP's National Disciplinary Committee")
Ramdas had planned to attend the controversial National Council meet on Saturday in his capacity as Lok Pal, but the AAP asked the former navy chief to skip the meeting.
Notably, the Lok Pal has been reconstituted a day after Ramdas went public with his letter to the party leadership questioning why he had been asked to stay away from the meeting.
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The party justified its decision to replace Ramdas saying the move was "long overdue" as his term had expired. However, this had not been cited when several cases of disciplinary action against candidates with questionable credentials had been forwarded to the Lok Pal on the eve of the Delhi polls. Announcing the decisions on Sunday, AAP leader Pankaj Gupta said: "The Disciplinary committee has been reconstituted, it has three members - Dinesh (Waghela), Ashish Khetan and Pankaj Gupta."
According to sources, the party would proceed to initiate disciplinary action against Bhushan and Yadav for their alleged "anti- party" activities.
Removal of Bhushan and Yadav from key panels is being seen as a precursor to their expulsion from the party.
The two leaders on Saturday termed the decision to remove them from the party's national executive a "farce and illegal", saying they might seek legal recourse. They also hinted at floating another party if required, claiming the support of a big section of AAP workers.
The nearly month-long war between Kejriwal and the two leaders ended with a showdown on Saturday with the two founder-members being ousted in a 247-8 vote at the 311-member National Council (NC) meet that was marred by chaos, charges and counter charges. AAP on Sunday made public Kejriwal's speech at the NC on Saturday with the video being posted on YouTube and tweeted on AAP's official twitter handle.
In an emotional speech, Kejriwal said, "When the whole Delhi stood behind us, some friends of ours cheated us. I am saying this with a heavy heart that when the whole of Delhi was with us, some friends backstabbed us."
"Conspiracies were hatched to ensure our defeat in the Delhi polls. AAP Volunteers Aawaz Manch (AVAM) was formed and it was supported. It then came in the media that AVAM members were former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and BJP was funding them.
"Prashant ji told many people that we think the party should lose then only can the party and Kejriwal learn a lesson. If you don't do this then we will go before the press and destroy the party," Kejriwal said.
"Stories were planted. Senior editors of two big news channels have told me that Yogendra Yadav was planting stories against me. Many volunteers wanted to come to Delhi. They were stopped. Many donors were stopped from campaigning. The limit was when our senior leader (Shanti Bhushan) of the party said that Kiran Bedi was his first choice, Ajay Maken was the second choice and Kejriwal is the third choice. I want to know then why are you into this party?"
The AAP chief said, "There were attempts to weaken me, weaken the party. When I came back from Bengaluru, I spoke to members of my team and sent them the same night to speak to Yogendra bhai. From that day to day before yesterday (Thursday), we tried our best to resolve the problem." "They (Yadav and Bhushan) first said they had five demands which, if met, they would quit all party posts. It was slightly shocking, normally people say either fix the party or we will quit… It was all a sham. They were showing the world that it was a fight of principles," Kejriwal added.
"Take this party, but do not kill it. I am not here to fight with these people. My fight is with corruption and communal forces. I am not here to fight with Prashant ji and Yogendra ji. I have conceded defeat. You people have won. I am here to put an end to this war. You have to decide today. Since last one year, every National Executive and Political Affairs Committee (PAC) has seen fights and arguments. You have to decide on whom do you want to choose? Either choose me or them?" he said.
The AAP body also announced a committee that will take care of the April 22 agitation against the Land Acquisition Bill, when the party plans to gherao Parliament on the issue. This committee comprises Ilyas Azmi, Prem Singh Pahadi, Yogesh Dahiya, Somendra Dhaka, Gurnam Singh and Kiran Vissa, which would decide on the details of the agitation programme.
The party has also formed a committee under the leadership of senior leader and PAC member Sanjay Singh to look into expansion of the organisation in other states.
"The AAP organisation in other states will write to us about its organisational status and political situation. They will communicate to us with their reports in 15 days," Singh said.
An agitated Bhushan said the whole exercise of forming new panels was a "farce". He said people who has levelled allegations against him and Yadav have been put in these committees. "So how can one expect them to be fair?" he said.
AAP has been embroiled in internal strife soon after it romped home with a thumping majority in the Delhi Assembly polls, winning 67 of the 70 seats.