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A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) showed signs of fissures, party chief Arvind Kejriwal reached out to dissenting leaders. The AAP chief managed to convince party ideologue Yogendra Yadav to stay put in the AAP’s political affairs committee, the party’s top decision-making body, party senior Prashant Bhushan told Business Standard.
On Friday, before the party’s national executive meeting began, Kejriwal held a meeting with Yadav and other party seniors. Clearing speculation of a rift with Yadav, Kejriwal said on micro-blogging site Twitter, “Yogendra Yadav is a very dear friend and a very valued colleague…Had long discussion with him…Yogendra Yadav has raised some important issues. All of us will work on those.”
The party also tried reaching out to senior leader Shazia Ilmi, who had quit, complaining about its undemocratic functioning. “We will also try to get Shazia back,” Kejriwal tweeted.
“All differences have been ironed out. The party will look for organisation restructuring and focus on the Delhi polls. The political affairs committee will be expanded and there is a need to incorporate young energy in the party, from top to bottom,” he told a private news channel. A source said the party now felt it shouldn’t have spread itself across the country during the Lok Sabha elections, adding now, it had decided to focus on Delhi and Punjab, where it had seen significant traction. The party isn’t likely to contest the Maharashtra Assembly elections, scheduled in October, sources said. It might not contest the Haryana Assembly polls, too, if its timing coincides with the Delhi elections in October.
Differences within the AAP leadership emerged after Yadav sought to resign from the posts he held in the party, following a rift with the party’s Haryana leader, Naveen Jaihind, on the issue of the party’s dismal performance in the elections in the state. However, party sources maintained both were on good terms. Sources said at the party’s post-election review meeting, Jaihind had expressed reservations about ticket distribution and complained Yadav had selected a few undeserving candidates in Haryana. He added though he felt the party shouldn’t contest more than three or four seats, Yadav had convinced the political affairs committee the party would win more than 30 per cent votes in the state. Yadav had also said to gain a foothold at the national level, the party should contest as many seats as possible.
Jaihind’s concern was also echoed by party senior Manish Sisodia. “Arvind (Kejriwal) was strictly against the AAP contesting elections across the country. He wanted the party to concentrate on Delhi for a few years. However, you and some other members favoured contesting elections all over the country. The result is in front of us…Do you want to finish off the party? Do you want to win your personal battle with Naveen (Jaihind) or do you want to finish off Arvind?” Sisodia wrote in a letter to Yadav.
After resigning from senior party posts, Yadav had charged Kejriwal of being self-centric and sought to know “whether there are limits to the personal discretion of the leader”.
At the national executive meeting on Thursday, Kejriwal expressed concern about the leaked letters and the resignations of Jaihind and Yadav from party posts. A party source said while Jaihind was presenting his views, Yadav had walked out for a few minutes. However, after the meeting, party seniors met at Sisodia’s residence to iron out differences with Yadav and convinced him to continue to hold party posts.
