The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday sacked founder member Kumar Vishwas as its convener in Rajasthan, and replaced him with Deepak Bajpai, the party’s national treasurer. Vishwas was made the Rajasthan convener in May 2017 as part of a peace deal following his fight with the top leadership.

The party also announced that it would contest the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, which are due by the end of 2018. “Kumar Vishwas was not able to devote time for election preparations due to his preoccupations,”Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Ashutosh said.

The party is likely to form an alliance with the Left for the elections, IANS reported, citing sources. Talks were at an “advanced stage”, a senior leader told the news agency.

Vishwas has often been critical of the Aam Aadmi Party leadership in the past. AAP leader Gopal Rai claimed in January that Vishwas was at the centre of a conspiracy to topple the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government after the municipal polls in April 2017.

Earlier this year, Vishwas had called Delhi Chief Minister and party chief Arvind Kejriwal a dictator after the party decided not to field him in the elections to the Rajya Sabha. “I was punished for speaking the truth,” Vishwas had said.