Even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal left for Bengaluru to undergo naturopathy treatment for ten days on Thursday, more details emerged of the National Executive meeting on Wednesday which saw the ouster of senior leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the Political Affairs Committee of the party
Both Mr. Yadav and Mr. Bhushan were ready to quit from the party’s top decision-making body but got sacked by Kejriwal loyalists, senior AAP leader Mayank Gandhi said in a blog post.
Mr. Gandhi, one of the 19 who attended the meeting on Wednesday, quoted Mr. Yadav and Mr. Bhushan as saying that Kejriwal did not want them in the PAC.
Both were willing to stay out of the PAC provided they were not singled out and also put forth two formulae for the purpose, Gandhi said.
Mr. Yadav and Mr. Bhushan suggested a reconstitution of the nine-member PAC with new members elected through voting in which they would not contest.
Second, the PAC could continue in the present form but with Mr. Yadav and Mr. Bhushan not attending its meetings.
“The meeting broke for some time and Manish [Sisodia] and others conferred with the Delhi team of Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh, Dilip Pandey and others.
“After reassembling, Manish proposed a resolution that Yadav and Bhushan be removed from the PAC and it was seconded by Sanjay Singh,” Mr. Gandhi wrote in his blog.
Mr. Sisodia, who is Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister, as well as Mr. Khetan, Mr. Ashutosh, Mr. Pandey and Sanjay Singh are all considered Kejriwal loyalists. Some of them made stinging comments against Mr. Bhushan and Mr. Yadav ahead of the meeting, virtually accusing them of staging a revolt against Kejriwal.
Mr. Gandhi said he abstained from voting along with some others at the National Executive meeting as he had agreed that Mr. Bhushan and Mr. Yadav may remain out of the PAC and get some other responsibilities as Mr. Kejriwal needed a smoother working of the PAC.
“I was taken aback by the resolution of removing them publicly, especially as they themselves were willing to leave. Also, this decision to sack them was against the overwhelming sentiments of volunteers from all over the world,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Mr. Gandhi, who is convenor of the Maharashtra unit of the Aam Aadmi Party, argued that his revelations did not tantamount to a revolt or a publicity ploy and he was prepared for any repercussions.
Meanwhile, accompanied by his parents, Mr. Kejriwal left his house in Kausambhi area of Ghaziabad around 8 a.m.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will take care of the day-to-day affairs of the Delhi Government for 10 days in his absence.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also asked Mr. Kejriwal to consult a yoga therapist in Bengaluru for his persistent cough and high blood sugar during the Delhi Police’s ‘At Home’ function here a couple of weeks ago.
“Arvind’s sugar level have remained above 300 for the past 12 days. Doctors increased the insulin dose three—fold and intake of other medicines by up to two fold but despite that, cough has worsened and sugar levels continued to remain on the higher side,” sources close to Kejriwal said.
“The cough worsened during the hectic Delhi election campaign. He suffers from chronic allergic cough.The dust and pollutants he inhaled while addressing over 110 jan sabhas in the city made things worse,” they added.
The AAP chief had skipped the national executive meeting.
