Congress leaders met Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday and demanded strict action against Law Minister Somnath Bharti. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, met Jung, but remained tight-lipped.
Twitter was abuzz that Bharti may be asked to resign.
As Delhi’ political scene heated up on Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) office in Hanuman Road was bustling with activity with an eye on the Lok Sabha polls. People, mainly from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, had queued up to meet senior leaders, belying any negative impact of the recent controversies.
After the ‘vigilantism’ of Bharti, who led a group of people for a midnight raid on an alleged drug and sex racket run by some African women in a South Delhi locality, and the two-day dharna by Kejriwal, the party had invited a lot of flak from a section of the public, women’s groups, the media and some of its own members such as Capt Gopinath , with some analysts saying there was erosion of middle-class goodwill for the AAP.
“In fact, our middle-class support has grown. People are now convinced that Arvind Kejriwal has not changed even after coming to power. During this agitation, our membership has actually shot up,” senior AAP leader Gopal Rai, who is heading the AAP’s membership drive, told Business Line .
Post-mortem Asked if the party would do a post-mortem of the dharna and the Bharti incident, Rai said a meeting will take place in a few days, probably after the membership drive gets over on January 26.
On Wednesday, Rai announced that AAP membership had reached 50 lakh. He also denied media reports on the decline in donations for the party.
“We are now in the midst of finalising candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. There is no decline in donations. Actually, there is no campaign going on right now though we are open for donations. Once the membership campaign gets over, we will intensify donations,” he added. The AAP has collected Rs 7 crore after December 12, said another leader.
The AAP meanwhile is getting ready for another potential political face-off — replacing the Delhi Lokayukta Act with the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bil.