Bharti's midnight raid based on some evidence: AAP

However, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav calls it the party's "mistake" not to have "cobbled" together the evidence supporting Bharti's action

Amid demands for removal of Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti for the midnight raid episode, Aam Aadmi Party today came in his defence, saying he had sought action against the alleged drug and prostitution racket on the basis of "some evidence".

 

But, senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said it was a "mistake" on the part of his party not to have "cobbled" together the evidence supporting Bharti's action and put it in public domain to dispel the impression that he had acted without any basis.

 

"I saw the evidence myself.... I admit that the mistake was that we should have cobbled together all the evidence and put it in public domain and let the public view it. I think we allowed the mistaken impression to persist for 4-5 days, which was an error," he told Karan Thapar in Devil's Advocate programme on CNN-IBN.

 

Asked if Bharti would have been exonerated had the evidence been put out, Yadav said, "Not exonerated. Prima facie actually there is no evidence for all the things that are being put out (against Bharti)."

 

Asked if party was adopting double standards in removing Bharti from his office while it demanded suspension of the police personnel, he said an independent judicial inquiry has been ordered by the Lt Governor into the allegations of racism.

 

There have been demands for the sacking of Bharti after a Ugandan woman identified Bharti as the one who led a group of AAP workers in attacking their house and misbehaving with them on the pretext of a raid on an alleged drug and prostitution ring in South Delhi last week.