Delhi MLAs being forced to sign papers against us: Yadav
New Delhi:The widening internal rift in the AAP on Tuesday again came to the fore with the party top brass launching a scathing attack on Shanti Bhushan, Pra-shant Bhushan and Yogen-dra Yadav, accusing them of working for the party’s defeat and maligning the image of Arvind Kejriwal.
In a first official statement by top party leaders since the infighting came out in the open, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Transport Minister Gopal Rai, party’s General Secre-tary Pankaj Gupta and Sanjay Singh defended the national executive’s deci-sion to oust Prashant and Yadav from the political affairs committee (PAC).
“The trio, especially Prashant called up volun-teers from other states and told them not to campaign for the party.I will not be campaigning for the party this time.You guys also don’t campaign. It is neces-sary for the party to lose.It is only then Arvind (Kejri-wal) will get some sense,” the leaders said in the statement. “In front of Anjali Damania (AAP leader from Maharashtra), he told the same to workers of Mysore.
Those funding the party were discouraged from doing so,” said a joint statement by the four AAP leaders. Prashant and Yadav were voted out from the party’s PAC last week.The proposal to drop the two was introduced by Sisodia, seconded by Singh and supported by nine others including Gupta and Rai.
A section of the party headed by Arvind Kejriwal had alleged that the trio wanted to remove Kejriwal from the post of National Convenor. “Two weeks before the election, when (AAP leader) Ashish Khetan called up Prashantji and requested him to head party’s Delhi Dialogue initiative, Prashantji said that he wanted the party to lose and win only 20-22 seats.
If the party loses only then the leadership will get some sense,” the leaders claimed. They claimed that Prashant would also threaten to call a press conference in the midst of a heated election campaign. “For three days, 10 senior AAP leaders were trying to convince them not to address any press conference as this would have a negative impact on the party. At a time when the BJP and AAP were engaged in a cut throat battle, senior leader were busy convin-cing them and wasting their valuable time,” the leaders alleged.
“A few days before the election, Shanti Bhushan ji said he trusted Kiran Bedi more than Arvind (Kejriwal).All party workers were stunned listening to his statements.Volunteers started asking what was he doing in the AAP if he supported Bedi.He also gave many statements against Arvind,” the leaders claimed.
AAP leader Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday hit back at the party leadership, accusing it of forcing Delhi MLAs to sign papers against him and Prashant Bhushan and said the country would know know the “whole truth” very soon.
Yadav challenged the party leadership to make their response to the allegations public. His statement comes in the backdrop of allegations by the party top brass– Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Pankaj Gupta and Sanjay Singh– that the duo along with Shanti Bhushan worked for the party’s defeat and maligned the image of Arvind Kejriwal.
“They should not put pressure on members to speak out against us or force Delhi MLAs to sign papers against us. “Hope this statement ends all slan-der, planting of allegations. Hope no more coercion of party functionaries and Delhi MLAs on this issue. (PTI)