Former chief of naval staff Admiral (retired) Laxminarayan Ramdas on Sunday expressed disappointment over the leadership of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for not informing him before shunting him out from the internal Lokpal.
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"It is with great surprise and sadness that I heard today from a reporter that the Aam Aadmi Party no longer requires my services as its internal Lokpal. Various media reports have subsequently confirmed this news. I am disappointed that the leadership of the party did not accord me the courtesy of informing me first before making this decision public. I still await their phone-call," said Ramdas.
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"I am surprised because less than two weeks ago the party publicly reaffirmed its confidence in me. At no point in my tenure did the party express to me any dissatisfaction with my service. Neither did its leaders question my neutrality or my objectivity in this position. As recently as January 2015, I was asked to investigate complaints against potential electoral candidates," he said.
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"I took it as a sign of the party's confidence in me when on February 15th, at an informal meeting at the home of Mr Kejriwal, in the presence of many other senior leaders of the party, including members of the executive committee, I was actually requested to consider serving an additional five years as Lokpal," he added.
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Admiral Ramdas further said that he believed in the ideals of transparency, accountability and fairness that were encapsulated in the institution of the Lokpal.
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"I am, however, more sad than surprised. It was with a sense of excitement and hope that I became part of this movement to bring a new kind of politics to India. I believed in the ideals of transparency, accountability and fairness that were encapsulated in the institution of the Lokpal. And, I was honoured to be the first person to serve in this capacity," he said.
"I have tried to discharge my duties and responsibilities to the best of my abilities. My two previous letters, one which became public, the other which was intended to be public, reflected my effort to encourage the various leaders of the party to work together to remember the principles on which it was founded and to make sure that the promises made to the electorate - to the people- were fulfilled. Unfortunately I did not succeed in that effort," he added.
He further said that he was still hopeful that the AAP would be able to fulfil its promises of good governance, both internally and externally.
"I still hope that the party which has fired the imagination and hopes of so many Indians will be able to fulfil its promises of good governance, both internally and externally, in the exercise of political power in its new capacity as the government of Delhi. I wish them well in this endeavour," he said.
Earlier in the day, Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP also dropped founding member Prashant Bhushan from its Disciplinary Committee and Admiral Ramdas from the post of the party's internal Lokpal.
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The party had held a national executive meet at Kejriwal's residence earlier today, where the decision to forge a new Lokpal committee was taken.
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The new Lokpal committee will include former IPS officer N D Kumar, former DIG Rakesh Sinha and educationist Dr. SP Verma.
The party's internal rift had widened after Yadav and Bhushan were accused of working for party's defeat during the Delhi Assembly polls last month.
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The duo had raised a banner of revolt accusing the party leadership of stifling inner-party democracy and compromising on the principles on which it was formed.
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Subsequently, a motion was moved to remove the dissidents from the national executive and it was passed with a majority vote yesterday.
