The differences between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and founder member Kumar Vishwas is becoming more evident with the latest tiff being the party’s choice for nominations for the Rajya Sabha.
Taking a jibe at the open declaration made by Mr. Vishwas on his ambition to be one of the three choices for the seats in the Upper House, AAP’s Delhi convenor Gopal Rai said that other leaders in the party are “not insecure about their positions”.
PAC will decide
“The decision of the nominations has not been made yet. It probably will be decided in one of the coming political affairs committee (PAC) meetings. However, not all party leaders are insecure about their positions,” he said.
Last week, after reports started doing the rounds that the AAP was offering Rajya Sabha seats to outsiders, and not to party members, to curb competition within the party and to give representations to veterans in their respective fields, Mr. Vishwas expressed his disappointment saying that he deserved one of the three positions.
Sources had confirmed that they had offered one of the seats to the former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan. The other names doing the round is former Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) managing director E. Sreedharan and renowned geneticist M. S. Swaminathan.
Party divided
Mr. Rai said that though a final call on the nominations will be taken by the PAC, the party is divided in its stand to either nominate renowned personalities or to give a chance to senior party members.
“There is a section in the party that believes that nominating well known faces will help us prove a point and will also curb any feeling of discontent among members. The other group, however, feels that the leaders who have been working hard with us from the beginning should be given a chance. They will also be able to represent our case before the House well,” Mr. Rai said.
When contacted, Mr. Vishwas said that he cannot change the opinions of other leaders about him.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong in being ambitious, especially if you have literally given everything to the party. The party was formed in my living room and I am not ashamed of expressing what I feel. People can say what they want about me,” said Mr. Vishwas.
