After months of speculation about his future in the party, AAP leader Kumar Vishvas on Sunday had one message for workers and supporters at the party’s national convention — that he was not going anywhere.
Addressing the convention at the Ramlila Maidan on the fifth anniversary of the party’s formation, Mr. Vishvas said he would not leave the party, which he said had deviated from its path. In May this year, Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan had accused Mr. Vishvas of being an agent of the BJP and RSS, which led to the former’s suspension. However, last month, Mr. Khan’s suspension was revoked, leading to speculation about Mr. Vishvas’ future in the party.
As the crowd erupted in applause, Mr. Vishvas began his address by acknowledging that he had not spoken in the past seven to eight months. One reason, he said, was that the opportunity for him to speak publicly had not come up as no meetings of the Political Affairs Committee, other than one to discuss the Presidential election, had taken place and his name was excluded from the list of speakers at the party’s national council meeting.
“But by meeting thousands of workers in the past seven months, I have found that if I am restless due to not speaking for five months, those workers who have not been heard for five years are also restless,” he said.
‘Look inwards’
While congratulating the party’s government in Delhi for its work, he said there was a need to look inwards about where the AAP had started from and where it was today.
“Many people have left us due to arrogance and insecurity, but we need to get them back,” he said, in what could be seen as a reference to AAP founders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan leaving the party in 2015.
He said he was told that he would be insulted and made to quit the party, but he reiterated “I am not going anywhere”.
Though Mr. Vishvas shared the stage with AAP leaders, sitting next to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, all speculation about his future in the party was not laid to rest. “There are Mir Jafars here wearing the AAP topi . We need to fight them, as well as the BJP and the Congress,” said Delhi Minister Gopal Rai.
