Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas on Sunday said the party was in talks with ousted leaders, including Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, to facilitate their return, PTI reported.

“Volunteers are holding talks with them,” Vishwas said after meeting AAP volunteers at the party office in Delhi. “We will ask for forgiveness for the mistakes we made.”

AAP founding members Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were sacked in April 2015 for alleged anti-party activities. The two had questioned party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s style of functioning. Apart from Yadav and Bhushan, Vishwas said AAP would also want Subhash Ware, Anjali Damania, Mayank Gandhi and Dharamvira Gandhi to return to the fold. They had all objected to the party’s decision to sack Yadav and Bhushan.

However, an AAP leader refuted Vishwas’ claim of reconciliation. “No discussion of this kind took place,” Spokesperson Sanjay Singh told The Indian Express. “No one has reached out to them, neither have they reached out to us. This could be Vishwas’ personal opinion.”

Swaraj India, the political party Yadav and Bhushan established after their ouster from AAP, also dismissed Vishwas’ claims. “Instead of appealing to others to come back, they should come back on the right path,” Swaraj India Spokesperson Anupam told PTI.

Vishwas also spoke about an Aam Aadmi Party 2.0. “The second version will focus on giving more priority to volunteers who will act as anti-virus in the outfit,” he said. Last week, Vishwas had said that AAP had moved away from its core principles, and a “course correction” was needed.