At party meet, Kejriwal wanted to quit as AAP Convener

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Feb 28 2015 | 10:28 PM IST
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had tendered his resignation as party's National Convener in the National Executive meeting held on Thursday, party sources said, a move which was vehemently opposed by members.
The sources said Kejriwal was upset after a section of leaders raised the issue of him playing dual role of the Delhi Chief Minister and the party convener. Kejriwal is believed to have demanded more freedom to run the party.
The meet was held on Thursday and an informal meet continued until yesterday.
"In the National Executive meeting, Kejriwal had offered to resign, having become the chief minister. He had also sent a note and also conveyed his decision over the phone. The move was vehemently opposed by everyone, including Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. On the same night, NE members met Kejriwal and conveyed that they had rejected his proposal of quitting.
"A suggestion also came up to rejig the PAC, but a final decision will be taken by Arvind (Kejriwal)," said a senior party leader.
The party is also likely to rejig its all powerful Political Affairs Committee (PAC), amidst reports of friction between Kejriwal and senior party leader Yogendra Yadav.
The rejig is likely to take place after the budget session of Delhi Legislative Assembly, which is slated to take place next week, but a final decision will be taken by Kejriwal in coming days.
The party sources said that after the rejig, specific responsibility will be given to the leaders and their roles will be defined.
All is not well within the party, the sources said, as differences have cropped up between senior party leaders especially over the candidate selection during the Delhi assembly election. Owing to this, Bhushan and Yadav were not attending the PAC.
The Delhi unit of AAP was unhappy about the opposition over the candidate selection process as it claimed that the party already had a strong filter to weed out candidates who don't meet the party standards.
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First Published: Feb 28 2015 | 10:28 PM IST

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