New Delhi: In an expected decision taken late on Monday night, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) showed the door to rebel leaders Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha after accusing them of gross indiscipline and anti-party activities.
Both Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav went on the offensive after being expelled with the former liking the AAP to khap panchayats and the latter accusing the party of dragging and throwing him out of his house.
Launching a scathing attack on the AAP leadership and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bhushan, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, said, "AAP has become a party of dictators like the khap panchayat. What has happened is illegal and undemocratic. Dreams have been shattered by a dictator and his coterie. Thankfully the drama is over now."
"AAP has become a party of dictators like the khap panchayat. What has happened is illegal and undemocratic. Dreams have been shattered by a dictator and his coterie. Thankfully the drama is over now," Bhushan said while reacting to his expulsion by the AAP.
Defending his actions, he trained guns at AAP disciplinary committee members Ashish Khetan and Pankaj Gupta, and said that the ones who have taken disciplinary action are the ones who are themselves facing serious charges.
"What has happened to us is against principles of justice. Those who expelled us, face serious charges themselves. How can there be a natural justice if those investigating us have cases against themselves? Whatever we did was to save the spirit of AAP," he said.
Adding that there is a sense of deep regret on being expelled, Bhushan said that he is not planning to challenge the AAP's decision in court. "National disciplinary committee's formation is unconstitutional. Can we exhaust our energy on this? We will work on Swaraj Abhiyaan," he said.
Expelled leader Yogendra Yadav too, said that he would try and connect with the people. "We should not lose hope in the revolution which had created the AAP. People are today feeling cheated," he said claiming that a party itself cannot becomes the judge.
Unfazed by the expulsion, he said that he will not bow down due to the action against them. "Last night, there was sadness and anger, but today, there is determination," Yadav said.
Hitting out at Kejriwal over the expulsions, one of AAP's founding members Shanti Bhushan said that he is highly disappointed with him. "I made a mistake in identifying Arvind Kejriwal. It is a very serious mistake as to what kind of person he is. He is the new Hitler," he said.
The AAP's national disciplinary committee on Monday night expelled Yadav, Bhushan, Kumar and Jha for anti-party activities and "gross indiscipline".
The decision to expel the four leaders was taken at AAP National Disciplinary Committee which met on April 20. The committee claimed that the four leaders had made a request after which the deadline for submitting their explanations had been extended till 3 pm on April 20.
But only Yadav, Bhushan and Kumar replied while Jha failed to do so. However, the response of the first three were found to be "unsatisfactory" following which they were charged with gross indiscipline and anti-party activities.
AAP claimed that Yadav, Bhushan and Kumar violated the Code of Conduct detailed in Article VI A (a) of the party's constitution. Jha failed to furnish his response but he was also charged with the same offence as the other three.
AAP had on April 17 served show-cause notices to the four senior leaders and removed them from important committees. Yadav had called the show-cause notice a "pre-scripted drama" where the outcome is already decided and well-known.
In his reply to the notice, Yadav sent a long letter to the AAP leadership in which he wrote that he decided to explain his stand only because a "non-response could be seen as an admission of guilt and could give credence to some of these ridiculous charges".
The rebel leaders had also raised objection to the presence of Ashish Khetan and Pankaj Gupta in AAP's disciplinary committee.
Bhushan and Yadav were removed from AAP's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) on March 4. Both the camps - one headed by Kejriwal and second by the rebel duo - resorted to talks, but the negotiations failed after which Bhushan, Yadav, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha were removed from National Executive, AAP's highest decision-making body.
The rebel leaders had then organised Swaraj Samvad convention on April 17. Falling short of declaring a new political outfit, the rebel camp announced of starting of Swaraj Abhiyan across the country. Bhushan and Yadav were one of the founder leaders of the AAP.
Comments
0 comment