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The rift within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took an ugly turn after the removal of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the party’s political affairs committee. In his first interview since the controversy erupted, the AAP Delhi unit convener Ashutosh tells Somesh Jha that Bhushan and Yadav had offered to resign on the condition that Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also stepped down from the committee and hence the party was compelled to remove them. Edited excerpts:
Where did the rift begin between Arvind Kejriwal and Yadav and Bhushan?
After the parliamentary elections, when the party lost badly, Arvind went to jail and Shazia (Ilmi) resigned. Yogendra had written a long letter accusing the party of a supremo style of functioning. There was a meeting held on June 6 in this context where the atmosphere was grim. Arvind was very pained by the letter written by Yogendra. Around 6 pm, he stood up and wanted to speak but couldn’t control himself and broke down. We tried to console him. He said he had fought many battles with the government, with (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, but he didn’t want to fight with his own people. That was the first time we realised something had gone wrong because he is known to be a man of steel with great determination. If someone like him is crying, he is hurt deep inside.
How did Yadav and Bhushan react to this?
We were all so shocked that we had no time to see how they reacted. It was also on this day that Arvind went back home, had a word with his parents and wife and said he wanted to quit politics. Somehow, Prashant and Yogendra got wind of the development and called Arvind the next morning. After a lot of cajoling, it was decided these issues would be discussed after the Assembly elections. Arvind wanted a free hand for the Delhi Assembly elections. A resolution was passed in this regard. However, this promise was not kept.
Aren’t these signs of a dictatorial leader?
Not at all. In fact, we all had many differences. But these two leaders were not willing to accept any decision and had constantly opposed the selection of candidates. Even after the recent meeting when these two were asked to leave the political affairs committee, it was decided no one would speak to the press, still they were seen on national television.
Were these two leaders in talks with Kejriwal throughout the Assembly elections?
Frankly, the talks broke down. Even normal conversation became impossible. They used to shout at each other in the political affairs committee meetings.
So why should they be associated with the party at all?
I am not competent enough to comment in this regard. The party has taken a decision which has been conveyed to them. This episode has badly dented the AAP’s image.
But there wasn’t a clear majority for the resolution to remove them…
This sends out a message that Arvind is not a dictator and there is democracy in the party. Do you think eight people would have dared to vote against his wishes had he been a dictator?
The manner in which these two leaders were removed despite offering to quit looked ugly…
They never offered to resign. Their resignation was conditional.
What were the conditions?
They demanded the resignation of two members of the political affairs committee, Gopal Rai and Manish Sisodia. Why are they telling half the truth in the media that they had offered to resign?
Bhushan has said in an interview that Kejriwal wanted to form the government with the Congress after the Lok Sabha debacle. Is this another point of difference between these leaders?
I am not aware of these developments.
