Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founder leader Kumar Vishwas’s supporters gathered at the party headquarters at Rouse Avenue on Thursday demanding that he be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Over 50 of his supporters protested outside the party office shouting slogans, “ Kaun hai karyakarta ka vishwas ..Kumar Vishwas, Kumar Vishwas” and “ Humare Vishwas ko Rajya Sabha bhejo ”.
The nominations for the Upper House begin from Friday and will continue till January 5. The supporters stood outside the office and later camped at a tent set up inside the office. The police also reached the AAP office to disperse the supporters but the peaceful gathering continued till late Thursday.
“Kumar Vishwas is among the founding members of the party and has worked for it day and night without expecting anything in return. It is the party’s responsibility to send him to the Rajya Sabha, not because he will gain anything from it, but it will be good for the party,” said Vishwajeet Kumar, a supporter.
Appeal on Twitter
Mr. Vishwas, however, took to Twitter to ask his supporters to resist from such protests that make demands for a person’s representation.
“My sincere appeal to AamAadmiParty volunteers gathering at party office, Pl refer to my Nov 26 appeal, Country first, Party next and Person last. Fight for Swaraj, BackToBasics, Trasparency but I won't appreciate any unrest in my name. Abhimanyu is a winner, even if killed,” (sic) he tweeted.
Mr. Vishwas has on several occasions in the past made clear his ambition to represent the party at the RS. He had openly spoken about his desire after the AAP was contemplating nominating outsiders instead of party leaders for the seats.
The names of Mr. Vishwas and other senior leaders, Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh, were initially on top of the list for the nominations. However, the poet-turned-politician has been at loggerheads with the party leadership recently.
The rift first started when AAP’s Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan accused him of being a “BJP agent” and alleged that he was planning a coup to overthrow Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
