It doesn't seem like things could get worse for the Aam Aadmi Party. Last week we found out that the party was going so low as to record conversations between workers and journalists to use as weapons in internal battles. On Wednesday, even more cracks emerged: a former leader alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sought to horse trade his way to forming a government in the capital, senior leader Anjali Damania quit because of these allegations and sidelined senior leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan put out a letter making all sorts of allegations against the party internal functioning.
Yadav and Bhushan's letter is the most explosive development in a series of uncomfortable revelations that have rocked the party over the last few days. In it, the two senior leaders claim that Kejriwal had sought to once again form a government in Delhi with the support of the Congress, that the party had failed to listen to the preferences of its volunteers outside the capital and that very serious concerns about candidates who were given tickets by the party were not dealt with before the elections.
Those in Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's camp accused Yadav and Bushan of having worked against the party in the run up to elections in Delhi last month. In a statement put out on Tuesday, four senior leaders close to Kejriwal claimed Yadav had planted negative stories about the party in the press while Bhushan had asked supporters not to donate to the party.
Earlier in the month, Kejriwal's camp managed to ensure that Yadav and Bhushan would be kept out of the political affairs committee, AAP's top decision making panel. Since then, however, the rift in the party has only gotten worse with some coming out in support of Yadav and Bhushan while more than 55 Members of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi have signed a petition seeking to remove the two leaders from the party's National Executive board. Not all the MLAs have signed up, however, with one telling the Economic Times that the move seemed unnecessarily vindictive.
The infighting and the dirty laundry that has emerged during it has already led to one casualty in the party with Maharashtra leader Anjali Damania posting on twitter that she was leaving the party. Damania linked to an India TV report suggesting that Kejriwal was attempting to horse trade and bring Congress MLAs into the party rather than having to go for fresh elections.
During all this, however, Kejriwal has attempted to stay above what he called an "ugly" battle, taking 10 days leave from being Delhi chief minister to undertake a naturopathy course in Bangalore because of his health.
The party has begun some damage control. It has dispatched a leader to speak to Damania and counsel her against the decision to leave AAP. Yadav and Bhushan have themselves unilaterally said that they will not be speaking to the media any more and instead are fully submitting to the internal processes of the party and will abide by whatever the party decides. Then there's the matter of the horse-trading allegations, which is possibly the most serious of all developments, since Kejriwal has in the past been indignant about other parties trying to poach his own leaders.
Whatever happens, when Kejriwal returns from Bangalore, he will be coming back to a party that is in considerably worse state than the one that he left.
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Yadav and Bhushan's letter is the most explosive development in a series of uncomfortable revelations that have rocked the party over the last few days. In it, the two senior leaders claim that Kejriwal had sought to once again form a government in Delhi with the support of the Congress, that the party had failed to listen to the preferences of its volunteers outside the capital and that very serious concerns about candidates who were given tickets by the party were not dealt with before the elections.
Those in Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's camp accused Yadav and Bushan of having worked against the party in the run up to elections in Delhi last month. In a statement put out on Tuesday, four senior leaders close to Kejriwal claimed Yadav had planted negative stories about the party in the press while Bhushan had asked supporters not to donate to the party.
Requested party that they should make the letter as public as they did for yesterday's statement: Yogendra Yadav
— ANI (@ANI_news) March 11, 2015
Earlier in the month, Kejriwal's camp managed to ensure that Yadav and Bhushan would be kept out of the political affairs committee, AAP's top decision making panel. Since then, however, the rift in the party has only gotten worse with some coming out in support of Yadav and Bhushan while more than 55 Members of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi have signed a petition seeking to remove the two leaders from the party's National Executive board. Not all the MLAs have signed up, however, with one telling the Economic Times that the move seemed unnecessarily vindictive.
I quit.. Ihave not come into Aap for this nonsense. I believed him.. I backed Arvind for principles not Horse-trading http://t.co/lxMaBkwxeO
— Anjali Damania (@anjali_damania) March 11, 2015The infighting and the dirty laundry that has emerged during it has already led to one casualty in the party with Maharashtra leader Anjali Damania posting on twitter that she was leaving the party. Damania linked to an India TV report suggesting that Kejriwal was attempting to horse trade and bring Congress MLAs into the party rather than having to go for fresh elections.
During all this, however, Kejriwal has attempted to stay above what he called an "ugly" battle, taking 10 days leave from being Delhi chief minister to undertake a naturopathy course in Bangalore because of his health.
The party has begun some damage control. It has dispatched a leader to speak to Damania and counsel her against the decision to leave AAP. Yadav and Bhushan have themselves unilaterally said that they will not be speaking to the media any more and instead are fully submitting to the internal processes of the party and will abide by whatever the party decides. Then there's the matter of the horse-trading allegations, which is possibly the most serious of all developments, since Kejriwal has in the past been indignant about other parties trying to poach his own leaders.
Whatever happens, when Kejriwal returns from Bangalore, he will be coming back to a party that is in considerably worse state than the one that he left.