‘Kejriwal said he wouldn’t work with Bhushan, Yadav’

Problems in the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) may have just got compounded. A day after the ouster of senior founder members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) by the national executive (NE), Mayank Gandhi, a senior party leader from Maharashtra, disclosed that there was a ‘gag’’ order in a party whose leader “swears by transparency”.

Not just that, Gandhi also disclosed that Kejriwal, who had skipped Wednesday’s six-hour-long meeting, had conveyed to the NE on February 26 that “he will not be able to work as Convenor, if these two members (Yadav and Bhushan) were part of the PAC.”

In a blog post addressed to volunteers, Gandhi, who abstained from voting along with two others, defended his breaking the ‘gag’ order, saying he was emulating the very ideals laid down by party leader Arvind Kejriwal.

“Arvind used to say that when they were coming out of the joint draft committee meeting of the Lokpal in 2011, Kapil Sibal (Congress leader) used to ask them not to reveal anything to the outside world. Arvind used to answer that it was his primary duty to inform the nation about the proceedings, as he was not a leader but a representative of the people. Truth and transparency was all that he had…. Last night I was told that disciplinary action would be taken against me, if I revealed anything. So be it – my first allegiance is to the higher truth,” writes Gandhi.

Expressing anguish over breaking the ‘diktat’, Gandhi said “my presence in the National Executive is only as a representative of the volunteers. And I would be dishonest to accept the gag order. The volunteers cannot be removed from the equation; they are the source of the party. Rather than get information from selective leaks and stray statements, I have decided to give some factual details of the meeting in the public domain.”

Detailing the events that led to the ouster of Bhushan and Yadav by 11.8 votes, Gandhi said “During the Delhi campaign, Prashant Bhushan had threatened multiple times that he will hold press conference against the party, because of his concerns on candidate selection. Some of us were successful in somehow or other to stave off the threat till the elections. It was alleged that Yogendra Yadav was conspiring against Arvind and some evidences were produced.”

“There were also operational irreconcilable differences and trust deficit between AK, PB and YY”, he added

Gandhi said “the manner and intention behind the resolution was not acceptable.” Yadav, he said, suggested two formulas to solve the problem. One, the PAC be But, Gandhi was reconstituted and new members be elected through voting, with Bhushan and Yadav not putting their candidature. Two, the PAC continue to function in the present form and “YY and PB would not attend any of the meetings.”

“The meeting broke for some time and Manish (Sisodia) and others conferred with the Delhi team of Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh, Dilip Pandey and others. After reassembling, Manish proposed a resolution that YY and PB be removed from the PAC and it was seconded by Sanjay Singh.”

Gandhi says he abstained, because of two reasons. “One Arvind needs a smooth working in the PAC. So, I agreed that PB and YY may be out of PAC and take some alternate important roles. Two, I was taken aback by the resolution of removing them publicly, especially as they themselves were willing to leave. Also, this decision to sack them was against the overwhelming sentiments of volunteers from all over the world.”

Gandhi concluded by telling volunteers that “this is not a revolt, nor is this some publicity ploy. I will not go to the press. There may be some repercussions overt and covert against me. So be it.”

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