Dismissing reports that the AAP was holding talks with them for their return to the party, Swaraj India national President Yogendra Yadav and its senior leader Prashant Bhushan on Monday said there was no such possibility, and denied any communication with AAP leaders and its founder member Kumar Vishwas.
Speaking to IANS, Yogendra Yadav said: "I was surprised to read the claim that some Swaraj Abhiyan colleagues will join AAP again. I would be happy to know who these people are and what was their status in Swaraj Abhiyan."
"I was very surprised to hear that there are talks going between AAP and us. At least I do not know of such talks. I have not spoken to Kumar Vishwas or any AAP leader for over two years now. I see no point in it. All this is idle speculation," Yadav said.
Bhushan retweeted a media report that quoted Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas as saying that the two were planning to rejoin AAP, terming it as "absurd".
Kumar Vishwas on Sunday expressed displeasure over AAP's functioning and said the party needed to go back to the basic idea of Swaraj, morality and inner democracy in the party.
He said the party workers were in talks with many of their colleagues who had since left the AAP, including Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, and apologised for any wrongs done by the party.
"There are no talks or possibility of our returning to AAP, which has betrayed all the ideals of the anti-corruption movement," Bhushan tweeted.
Yadav also took to Twitter and said he was "surprised" on reading what Vishwas had said a day before.
"Really? Must be very secret, since both of us have not heard about it! In my knowledge, there is no possibility of this happening," he said in a series of tweets.
Yadav and Bhushan were sacked from the AAP in March 2015 for alleged anti-party activities. They had hit out at AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal over his "supremo style of functioning" and "lack of transparency" in the party.
In October 2016, the two launched a new political outfit Swaraj India which also contested civic polls in Delhi.
According to sources, the AAP has decided to sack Vishwas and that the move by him is a bargaining tactic before the senior party leadership. The controversial statements by Vishwas are aimed to grab the attention of AAP leaders and party volunteers for bargaining a Rajya Sabha seat, sources said.
--IANS
mg-sp/rn
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
