Bhushan, Yadav removed from AAP's top decision-making body

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal emerged as its clear leader after its national executive on Wednesday removed his detractors, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, from the nine-member Political Affairs Committee.

Bhushan and Yadav had questioned the ‘one person centric’ cult in the party. The PAC is the party’s highest decision making body. Sources said Yadav was also removed as spokesperson of the party.

The resolution to remove Yadav and Bhushan as PAC members was passed with 11 in favour and eight voting against.

Kejriwal who did not attend the meeting had sent in his resignation as national convenor but it was unanimously rejected.

The five-and-a-half-hour national executive meeting was held at a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city, in Mahipalpur. It was chaired by Kumar Vishwas. The denouement came after a power struggle between both sides, with allegations, counter-allegations, a series of leaked letters and even a sting operation thrown in.

Kejriwal’s aides Ashutosh, Ashish Khetan, Sanjay Singh and Dilip Pandey were in favour of removing the duo for ‘working against the party”. Another section favoured rapprochement. A group of AAP volunteers appeared outside the venue with posters urging reconciliation. All day, a ‘#UnitedAAP’ campaign trended on Twitter with some advocating, “Removing @AapYogendra or Prashant Bhushan from PAC can’t solve the problem of AAP. It will create more problems.”

Party insiders disclosed that in order to offer Yadav and Bhushan a ‘face saver’, Kumar Vishwas initially suggested they resign, Yadav would be made incharge of the Kisan Morcha and Bhushan could take care of the legal cell. With the duo not agreeing, a formal resolution was moved. The voting, said sources, was open and democratic.

There were three absentees, including Kejriwal and Mayank Gandhi. Those who supported Yadav and Bhushan, apart from the two, were Ananth Kumar, Ajit Jha, Subhas Ware, Christina Samy, Rakesh Sinha and A Gupta.

Yadav stepped out of the meeting and told reporters, “I am a disciplined members of the party and will do whatever the party asks me to do. I hope the expectations of thousands of volunteers will not be belied.”

Bhushan refrained from comment, except to say a majority decision would prevail.

After the meeting, Kumar Vishwas addressed the media, saying: “The party has decided to relieve them from the responsibility as members of the PAC. They will be assigned a new role and responsibility.” He said “personal opinions and personal differences” would not come in the way of the unity of the party, which would deliver on its promises.

The fault lines within the party had been simmering for some time and came to the fore, within a month of its overwhelming victory in Delhi. While there have been many exits in its three-year history, this is the first time a crisis of this nature between the three most prominent faces, founding members, shook the party to its core.