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Days after being sidelined by the party he helped found, Prashant Bhushan has in an open letter to Arvind Kejriwal, published by NDTV.com, accused the AAP leader of orchestrating a Stalinist purge and stifling intra-party opposition.
Saying that differences between him and Kejriwal started after the Lok Sabha elections, the letter also lists the problems Bhushan faced in what he called a "supremo-oriented, high-command culture” within the party.
Reiterating that the National Council (NC) meeting held on the March 28 was a mere farce to expel them (Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav), Bhushan claims Kejriwal's speech was an incitement to several Delhi MLAs to call them 'gaddars' (traitors) and demand their removal. He went on to add that many NC members were either not invited (including the Lokpal) or allowed to enter the premises.
"More than half the people inside the meeting hall were non-members, which included MLAs, district and state convenors of four states, volunteers and bouncers," he said, adding that the party's internal Lokpal and members of the National Executive are being suspended unconstitutionally for supporting them.
Bhushan alleges that Kejriwal repeatedly went against the Political Action Committee (PAC) and NC on the issue of a tie-up with the Congress and that secretly sent a letter to the "Lieutenant Governor of Delhi saying that he should not dissolve the Assembly for another week because AAP wants to seek the opinion of the people on whether to form the government again."
"Immediately after the letter came out, Congress said they were not ready to support AAP and that left us with egg on our face, with the result that you had to backtrack the next day and apologise. But despite that, the attempt to form the government with Congress' support or with the support of breakaway MLAs from the Congress continued, as is clear from the sting tape of Rajesh Garg which shows you were wanting to form the government with the support of those MLAs whom you had yourself accused of having being bought over by the BJP for Rs 4 crore each," Bhushan says in the letter.
Kejriwal also went against the party bodies on a decision to contest Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, Bhushan claimed.
On AAP's breakaway wing Aam Aadmi Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM), Bhushan says the SMS sent in AVAM's name calling for volunteers to join BJP was fabricated by the party itself. After police investigation, it was found that an AAP volunteer, Deepak Chaudhary, had created this identity in the name of AVAM and used it to send the SMS.
Accusing Kejriwal of using unethical and criminal means to achieve ends, he said "Young volunteers in the party under your tutelage are being taught that use of such means is OK in politics, since any means used to defeat a "Bigger evil" is OK."
The lack of transparency in selecting candidates for the Delhi elections was the last straw, says Bhushan. He said candidate names were not being updated on the website nor were they being sent to the PAC to investigate. He claims several questionable candidates were chosen, some of whom the party itself had complained were distributing money or liquor or had beaten up volunteers.
"Your initial choice for the Mehrauli seat, Gandas, had to be dropped at the last moment only because his photographs were circulated with him showing off, with a glass of liquor in one hand and a revolver in the other. Yet, while he was dropped, his brother was given the ticket. Eventually, even he had to be changed because our Lokpal, Admiral Ramdas gave a strong report against him," he said.
Bhushan says this was when he wanted to resign but was persuaded by senior leaders to remain.
In this meeting with senior leaders, Bhushan claims he said ‘All these kinds of compromises are being made, various ethical corners are being cut and now you are selecting these kind of candidates without proper transparency or scrutiny. Instead of winning by using these kinds of candidates, it would be better to lose the elections by going with clean and honourable candidates". This statement of his is being twisted to claim that he wanted the party to lose, Bhushan alleges in the letter.
"If I had wanted the party to lose the elections, I would have resigned and gone public with my reasons at that very time. If Yogendra Yadav wanted the party to lose, he would not have convened that meeting and stopped me from going public," said Bhushan.
He added that instead of taking up the issue of institutional reforms, the National Executive meeting of February 26 started with AAP leader Kumar Vishwas announcing Kejriwal's resignation and a no- holds barred attack on Yadav and him by members of Kejriwal's coterie.
"The message conveyed by them on your behalf was clear: That the price for your continuing as Convenor was our removal from the PAC and NE."
"We all agreed that you should continue, but thereafter, some people went to your residence to meet you, and you made it clear that it's either you or us, and that we have to be removed. And therefore, that is what happened in the next meeting which was held on March 4."
Bhushan concludes the letter by saying that while AAP was created as a vehicle for alternative politics, these principles are being betrayed by Kejriwal and his coterie.
