Delhi’s ruling party faced further shocks on Wednesday as senior leader Anjali Damania quit the party after a sting on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and two other senior leaders ousted from its top body reiterated their calls for inner-party democracy.
But Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, in the same breath, pleaded for an end to an unprecedented internecine war which has rocked the party even as some AAP legislators in Delhi sought their expulsion.
Kejriwal, meanwhile, remained in near seclusion in a hospital in Bengaluru, where doctors said he was responding well to the naturopathy treatment for his persistent cough and high blood sugar levels.
Wednesday’s biggest jolt to the AAP — which took power in Delhi only in February — came when Damania, a senior leader from Maharashtra, quit in a huff, accusing Kejriwal of betraying the principles on which the party was founded in 2012.
She said on Twitter: “I quit… I have not come into AAP for this nonsense.”
Her remarks came after a former AAP legislator in Delhi released a telephonic conversation in which a person said to be Kejriwal is heard saying — after he quit as chief minister in February last year — that he would not mind taking Congress support again to form a government.
“I believed him. I backed Arvind for principles, not horse-trading,” said Damania, who had left the AAP in June 2014 too but then rejoined it.
In other tweets, she added: “AAP is not a political party. It was a ray of hope for this country. Thousands of (volunteers) slogged for it. Just no one can play with the ‘siddhant’ (principles).”
In the audio tape, Kejriwal is heard asking then party legislator Rajesh Garg to “break” the Congress and get at least six of its eight legislators to prop up an AAP government.
AAP’s Ashish Khetan, a Kejriwal loyalist, said Kejriwal’s comments did not mean that he believed in horse-trading. “Political realignment is a reality in politics but ‘horse-trading’ is wrong. Even if we assume the tape is authentic, where does it suggest that monetary gains were offered by AAP in exchange for support?” he asked.
As the sting-cum-Damania fire erupted, Bhushan and Yadav, ousted from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) on March 4, wrote an open letter to party volunteers, saying the allegations of “anti-party activities” hurled at them were “laughable”.
Bhushan, a leading Supreme Court advocate, is one of the founders of the AAP. Yadav is one of India’s best known political pundits. Both have repeatedly said — they made the point again Wednesday — that they would not leave the AAP.
The two denied they were hankering after any party post and insisted that they had come under attack from Kejriwal loyalists simply because they demanded inner-party democracy and political honesty.
In a five-page letter in Hindi, they said: “We raised some institutional issues but were charged with fictitious allegations. We worked for the soul and unity of the party but were accused of sabotaging the party.”
“In the past two weeks, it has been repeatedly discussed that the differences within the party were over the post of the National Convener. This is not true. “It was said Yogendra Yadav is plotting to unseat Kejriwal from the post of the party chief.
“The truth is that when Arvind offered to resign from the post of the national convener, we voted to reject it.”
The letter also said that Kejriwal wanted Congress support to form a government in Delhi but Yadav and Bhushan, among others, opposed the move.
“We will make every effort to save the party,” they said, adding that it was their hope that Kejriwal would resolve the crisis when he returns from Bengaluru.
Damania, however, did not spare Bhushan and Yadav too. In one tweet, in an apparent reference to the public squabble, she said: “AAP will only work on (principles). Just enough of nonsense. Arvind, PB and YY should beg apology to the ‘volunteers’ in next 48 hours for their acts.”
In a new twist to the troubles within the AAP, an audio tape surfaced on Wednesday in which party convenor Arvind Kejriwal is purportedly heard seeking to engineer defections in the Congress to form the government in 2014 during President’s Rule in the national capital.
The Aam Aadmi Party dismissed the audio tape, saying it was an attempt to defame the party.
In the tape, the authenticity of which could not ascertained, Kejriwal is allegedly heard telling former party legislator Rajesh Garg to try and break six Congress lawmakers as the party was not ready to again support the AAP to form the government in Delhi.
Garg told reporters that the conversation between him and Kejriwal took place sometime in July-August 2014. Kejriwal had resigned on February 14, 2014 after 49 days in power over the inability to pass an anti-graft bill in the Delhi assembly.
The AAP, which now rules Delhi, had won 28 seats in the 2013 elections and the Congress with eight seats had extended support to it from outside. The Bharatiya Janata Party had emerged as the single largest party in the 2013 election winning 31 seats.
Garg’s associate Narendra said that he (Garg) did not release the tape and had passed it on to Kumar Vishwas. He, however, denied that Vishwas leaked it.
The AAP convenor is also reportedly heard telling Garg that Manish Sisodia, now Delhi’s deputy chief minister, was in touch with the Congress on the issue of forming the government.
AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon told reporters that such tapes were not new and were also released earlier to defame the party.
The following is the transcript of the conversation issued by India TV news channel:
Rajesh Garg: Namaskar Bhai Saheb
Arvind Kejriwal: Namaskar, how are you?
Garg: I am absolutely fine sir.
Kejriwal: We are ready but they are not agreeing… I mean people who are in touch with Manish and others…
Garg: It’s not like that… all 8 MLAs are ready… Ajay Maken, Surjewala and a few more from AICC are creating hindrances… saying we will be decimated completely.
Kejriwal: Then what should we do in such circumstances… their inference is delaying final decision on their part… what can we do now. I have tried to reach them several times.
Garg: In that situation, we can make an appeal that we are organising mohalla-level meetings and such opinions are coming out… If someone is ready to support us, we will stake claim to form government.
Kejriwal: No, don’t do this… speak vice-versa.
Garg: I am just discussing with you.
Kejriwal: No, no… What I am saying is that we shouldn’t speak now.
Garg: Okay.
Kejriwal: If they are ready, we are also well prepared.
Garg: Okay.
Kejriwal: Speaking at this juncture will deliver a wrong message to them… They will think that we are desperate for their support.
Garg: And what if it will be too late… The reason is they have recommended for dissolution on Tuesday and Wednesday, after this nothing will be in our hand.
Kejriwal: Yes… I agree with you but what else can we do… Meaning if you make an announcement and they don’t extend support, we will stand nowhere.
Garg: Image will be spoiled.
Kejriwal: It will be tarnished… It means that announcing anything before their final decision will put us in danger.
Garg: Yes, I agree with you on this. Today I will try.
Kejriwal: You please talk to them.
Garg: We will have to play safely.
Kejriwal: Yes… sure, sure.
Garg: This is the matter… today I will try.
Kejriwal: Okay… It is likely that these six MLAs will part their ways and support BJP.
Garg: Yesterday night Hari Shankar Gupta, who is an ex-MLA…. he is friend of Ajay Maken, he is very close to Maken. Yesterday night, he gave me a call… He initiated and later I spoke to Manish bhai. Gupta informed that all eight MLAs are ready and he held meeting with them including Lovely, Haroon Yusuf… The matter is now pending before the AICC.
Kejriwal: Yes
Garg: If they give support to BJP, they will emerge very powerfully and deliver the work and that we won’t be in situation to do anything.
Kejriwal: Yes
Garg: That MLA, Mateen Ahmed, is adamant that he will quit if this move is implemented. Pratap Singh Sahni and Devendra Yadav called me…
Kejriwal: I will tell you one thing… You try to break these six MLAs. Let them form a party and support us from outside.
Garg: Okay. I will try. I am planning.
Kejriwal: These six MLAs were parting their ways to join the BJP but they couldn’t because there are three Muslims.
Garg: These three Muslims will never go with the BJP.
Kejriwal: If they can’t go with BJP, why don’t they support us.
Garg: Yes, I will today look into the matter.
Kejriwal: Okay.
Garg: Okay bhai sahib. Namaskar
Kejriwal: Okay
Meanwhile, some AAP legislators have urged Kejriwal to take “strict action” against party colleagues Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav for “anti-party activities”.
A letter by some AAP legislators, selectively leaked to the media on Wednesday, also sought the removal of party co-founder Shanti Bhushan for speaking against Kejriwal ahead of the Delhi assembly elections.
An Aam Aadmi Party source said a small group of legislators who had sent the letter to Kejriwal were now seeking the signatures of other legislators and plan to personally meet the AAP convenor when he returns to Delhi.
The letter to Kejriwal warned that if “strict disciplinary action” was not taken against Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and his father Shanti Bhushan, discipline will slacken in the party and it will be destroyed.
“We hope you will take our statement seriously and set an example by taking action against these leaders,” said the two-page letter in Hindi.
Echoing allegations hurled by Kejriwal loyalists in the AAP, the letter by the legislators said: “It is very hard even to think that when all the party members and volunteers were sweating really hard to ensure AAP’s win in Delhi, a few leaders of the party – Yogendra Yadav, Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan – were conspiring against the party in the election.”
The legislators said Prashant Bhushan used to say publicly that he wanted the AAP to lose the Delhi election last month. It accused Prashant Bhushan of stopping volunteers from reaching Delhi from other states and asking them not to campaign for the party.
“AAP leaders had to go to Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan’s house thrice to convince them. For hours they tried to pacify them… Why Shanti Bhushan should not be sacked from the party after calling Arvind Kejriwal a worse leader than Ajay Maken (of the Congress)?”
The letter urged Kejriwal not to put up with “traitors”.
Even as AAP is being wracked in Delhi, far away at a health resort in Bengaluru, its chief Arvind Kejriwal is coughing less and his blood sugar level has considerably declined. He is undergoing naturopathy treatment since March 6.
“Kejriwal is responding well to our treatment. His cough is not as frequent and as intense as it was earlier. Blood sugar level is at 180-200mg/dl after food as against 300mg/dl six days ago,” Jindal Naturecure Institute medical director Babaina Nandakumar said.
The 44-year-old Aam Aadmi Party leader was admitted on March 5 to the hospital on the city’s outskirts for treating his chronic cough and high blood sugar as he is a diabetic. “His health condition has remarkably improved over the last couple of days. Intake of insulin has been reduced to 25 units from 50 units earlier as his blood sugar level has declined though it is still above 110-140mg/dl level,” Nandakumar said.
As no medicines are given under naturopathy treatment, Kejriwal is under a 12-hour regime from 5.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. for detoxifying his body and restoring normalcy in his basic health.
“Kejriwal has adjusted well to our strict regime and was able to go through various yogic exercises and therapies. Waking up at 5 a.m., he goes on a 30-minute walk and does mediation, followed by breathing exercise, cleansing body with Kriya technique, acupuncture, mud therapy and oil massage,” Nandakumar pointed out.
Kejriwal’s diet consists of vegetables and fruit juices, medicinal liquids, sprouts, boiled vegetables, chapatis and soup. “Kejriwal has an early breakfast by 8 a.m., followed by lunch at 11.30 a.m. and supper by 6.30 p.m. and retires to bed by 9 p.m.,” she recalled.
Asserting that visitors were not allowed to meet Kejriwal or his parents who are staying with him, the officer said though there was a landline and a television set in the three-bedroom cottage, he was not seen using them.
“As the treatment regime is continuous from morning to evening with 30-minute gap for breakfast, lunch, afternoon rest and supper, we have not seen him using landline, watching television or reading newspapers when he is in the room,” Nandakumar added.
Kejriwal’s parents Gobind Ram and Gita Devi, however, have mobiles to use.
Asked if Kejrwal gets calls from his party colleagues or ministers from Delhi, Nandakumar said no incoming calls are entertained during the day as he is pre-occupied with the treatment regime and retires to bed by 9 p.m.
Kejriwal is scheduled to return to Delhi March 16 after the 10-day treatment at the institute. (IANS)
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