AAP members Yadav, Bhushan may resign as rift widens

March 1, 2015

New Delhi, Mar 1: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founding members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav are likely to either resign from the party or assume non-active roles, sources said.

A day after media reports stated that the party was looking at reconstituting the Parliamentary Affairs Committee (PAC) and keeping Yadav out of it, both party members expressed a desire to leave. AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal did not dissuade them, sources said.

A meeting of AAP’s national executive was held on Thursday, which Kejriwal did not attend. According to party members, an argument between Yadav and other party members broke out. Another meeting was held on Friday which Yadav and Bhushan did not attend. It was in this meeting that the members asked Kejriwal to remain the national convener and reconstitute the PAC.

The differences between Kejriwal and Bhushan and Yadav have been out in the open for quite some time now. While Yadav tried to quit the PAC after the AAP’s Lok Sabha elections debacle, Bhushan had differences with Kejriwal over candidate selection.

In a letter written to Kejriwal in June, which was leaked to the media, Yadav had flayed Kejriwal’s dictatorial attitude. The party and Kejriwal had convinced Yadav to stay on at that time.

Bhushan, on the other hand, has been angry with the party’s choice of candidates for assembly elections as well as the way the party has been functioning for many months now. His father, Shanti Bhushan, who had given Rs 1 crore to the party when it was set up, had said a few days before the Delhi election that Kejriwal should quit as the party’s national convener.

The AAP party leadership, however, doesn’t seem too keen to ask Bhushan to stay back. In Yadav’s case, the party might accept his resignation from the PAC but may ask him to remain a part of the party.

According to party insiders, Yadav had a big role to play in scripting the party’s rural Delhi victory. AAP won all 12 rural seats this year, up from 0 in 2013.

Yadav and Kejriwal were also seen differing on the party’s future after the Delhi elections. While Yadav said that the party would expand to four other states, Kejriwal said AAP would concentrate all its efforts on Delhi.

Contacted, Yadav, however, said that no decision on any reconstitution within the party had taken place.

“Changing the division of responsibility is a constant process in any party. We have to be ready to give the party at least 20 years of our lives. I have fulfilled whatever responsibility the party has given to me in the past and will continue to do so even now. The organisation is bigger than any individual,” said Yadav.me

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

‘Avoid campaign on communal lines, politicising army’: EC directs BJP over a month after PM Modi remarks; warns Cong too

News Network

May 22,2024

New Delhi: Acting on a one-month-old notice it sent to the BJP on complaints over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s provocative and communal remarks, the Election Commission of India on Wednesday directed the saffron party’s star campaigners not to make speeches along 'religious/communal lines' and desist from statements that may 'divide the society'.

Separately, it also asked the Congress' star campaigners not to give 'false impression' of abolishing or selling the Constitution, make speeches that create 'mutual hatred or cause tension' between religious or linguistic communities or 'potentially divisive statements' regarding the socio-economic composition of the armed forces.

The EC’s letters to BJP president JP Nadda and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge conveying its directions came 27 days after it issued separate notices to them on complaints against Modi, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Though the complaints were annexed in the notice that were sent to party chiefs and not the alleged violators, the names of violators were not mentioned.

It also comes ten days before the seven-phased elections are ending on June 1 though the notices were issued a day before the second phase of polls on April 25. While Nadda had responded to the letter on May 13 after seeking two extensions, Kharge submitted his arguments on May 6 after seeking one extension. They were initially given time till April 29.

In its letter to Nadda, the EC said he has not denied the utterances mentioned in the Congress complaint though it 'stoutly defended' the campaign methods and remarks while invoking a 'unilateral drawing of inferences and interpretations' of star campaigners of opponents. It said its star campaigners continued with objectionable utterances even after the April 25 notice.

The latest communication came against the backdrop of complaints by Congress and other parties which referred to Modi’s speech in Banswara as “communal” where he spoke about Congress seeking to redistribute people’s wealth to “infiltrators”, in a veiled reference to Muslims, and that women’s ‘mangalsutras’ will be snatched.

Emphasising that Nadda’s defence was 'not tenable', the EC said, 'directs you as party president to also convey to all star campaigners to not make speeches and statements, which may divide the society. Directs BJP and its star campaigners to refrain from any campaigning methods/utterances along religious/communal lines'.

In its letter to Kharge, the EC said Kharge too has justified Congress star campaigners’ contentious remarks while claiming that the complaint had 'wilfully extracted only specific portions, devoid of context, to mislead the Commission'. Kharge also claimed that the BJP leaders were making 'motivated statements' invoking religious sentiments to attract voters.

The EC, which had taken cognisance of complaints against Kharge and Rahul, said the assertion of Congress’ star campaigners about the BJP attempting to change the Constitution was allegedly instilling fear in the minds of voters about an uncertain future and an attempt to spread anarchy in the country and could be considered as “corrupt practice” under election laws.

While insisting that it cannot accept the Congress arguments and find it untenable, the EC directed Kharge to convey to all star campaigners that they do not make statements which give a 'false impression such as the Constitution of India may be abolished or sold'.

Amid the Congress making a campaign point on the controversial Agniveer scheme, it also directed him to convey to star campaigners that they should not indulge in political propaganda involving the military and not make 'potentially divisive statements' regarding socio-economic composition of defence forces.

Both the party presidents to ensure that star campaigners refrain from making any statement that may “aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic”.

The EC also referred to controversial statements after the April 25 notice by star campaigners from both sides in its letters, referring to complaints and counter complaints.

Comments