Talks between the two conflicting factions in the Aam Aadmi Party appeared to have broken down ahead of Wednesday’s crucial national executive meeting which is likely to lead to the ouster of founder members Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the political affairs committee.
Members of the party’s Delhi unit on Tuesday said a proposal will be moved to remove both from the party’s highest level committee. Sources also said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, owing to ill health, may not attend the meeting. According to reports, Mr. Kejriwal will leave for Bengaluru on Wednesday evening for naturopathy treatment for 10 days. The treatment had been advised because he had been suffering from high blood sugar levels and persistent coughing. Some sources in the party also claimed that though Mr. Prashant Bhushan had asked to meet him ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Mr. Kejriwal could not respond.
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The Delhi Chief Minister earlier broke his silence on the internal controversy on Tuesday, tweeting that he was ‘deeply hurt and pained’ by what was going on. Last week, Mr. Kejriwal reportedly agreed on a compromise, according to senior party leader Anand Kumar. The solution would have been to reconstitute the parliamentary affairs committee with new faces, leaving out both Mr. Yadav and Mr. Prashant Bhushan as well as Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai who are part of the Kejriwal camp and are now Cabinet Ministers in Delhi.
However, Mr. Prashant Bhushan’s letter in which he had criticised Mr. Kejriwal was leaked to the press and his father, Shanti Bhushan gave an interview calling for Mr. Yadav to replace Mr. Kejriwal as national convener. This put paid to all compromise moves.
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