Bhushan removed from AAP disciplinary committee; Ramdas dropped as Lokpal

New Delhi: AAP’s internal Lokpal Admiral (retd) L Ramdas was on Sunday shown the door while dissident AAP leader Prashant Bhushan was axed from the party’s disciplinary committee, a day after Bhushan and senior leader Yogendra Yadav were expelled from the National Executive (NE) for “backstabbing” and “hatching conspiraces” against the party. At an “emergency” NE meeting in New Delhi, the party removed Ramdas, a former navy chief, as internal Lokpal and set up a new Lokpal panel, comprising former IPS officers N Dilip Kumar and Rakesh Sinha besides educationist SP Verma. [caption id=“attachment_2178985” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan speak to the media. PTI[/caption] “All these people have given their consent to be part of the party’s Lokpal panel,” party’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta said. Voicing disappointment over being dropped as internal Lokpal, Ramdas lashed out at the party leadership for not having the courtesy to inform him about the decision first. He said in an informal meeting last month the party had actually requested him to continue for additional five years. “It is with great surprise and sadness that I heard today from a reporter that the Aam Aadmi Party no longer requires my services as it’s internal Lokpal. Various media reports have subsequently confirmed this news. “I am disappointed that the leadership of the party did not accord me the courtesy of informing me first before making this decision public. I still await their phone-call,” Ramdas said in a statement here. The former navy chief has been the party’s Lokpal since its inception in November 2012. The removal of Ramdas came a day after he was sent an SMS by party national secretary Pankaj Gupta, asking him not to attend the National Council meeting to avoid “confrontation”. “I am surprised because less than two weeks ago the party publicly reaffirmed its confidence in me. At no point in my tenure did the party express to me any dissatisfaction with my service,” Ramdas said. The AAP National Executive, while sacking Bhushan from the disciplinary committee, decided to replace him with a three-member panel headed by AAP leader from Gujarat Dinesh Waghela. The other members are Arvind Kejriwal loyalist Ashish Khetan and Gupta. The removal of Ramdas came a day after he was sent an SMS by Gupta, asking him not to attend the National Council meeting to avoid “confrontation”. Miffed over the snub, Ramdas then wrote a letter to the Political Affairs Committee criticising the leadership. Kejriwal has been upset over missives sent by Ramdas and this led to he being asked not to attend the National Council meet. Ramdas said he had come from his village in Maharashtra to attend the meet. However, he said he would not attend the meet to “honour” the party’s request. Removal of Bhushan and Yadav from key panels is being seen as a precursor to their expulsion from the party. The two leaders on Sunday termed their sacking from the party’s national executive a “farce and illegal”, saying they might seek legal recourse. They also hinted at floating another party if required, claiming the support of a big section of AAP workers. The nearly month-long war between Kejriwal and the two leaders ended with a showdown on Saturday with the two founder-members being ousted in a 247-8 vote at the 311-member NC meet that was marred by chaos, charges and counter charges. AAP today made public Kejriwal’s speech at the National Council yesterday with the video being posted on YouTube and tweeted on AAP’s official twitter handle. In an emotional speech, Kejriwal said, “When the whole Delhi stood behind us, some friends of ours cheated us. I am saying this with a heavy heart that when the whole of Delhi was with us, some friends backstabbed us. “Conspiracies were hatched to ensure our defeat in the Delhi polls. AVAM was formed and it was supported. It then came in the media that AVAM members were former BJP members and BJP was funding them. “Prashant ji told many people that we think the party should lose then only can the party and Kejriwal learn a lesson. If you don’t do this then we will go before the press and destroy the party,” Kejriwal said. “Stories were planted. Senior editors of two big news channels have told me that Yogendra Yadav was planting stories against me. Many volunteers wanted to come to Delhi. They were stopped. Many donors were stopped from campaigning. The limit was when our senior leader (Shanti Bhushan) of the party said that Kiran Bedi was his first choice, Ajay Maken was the second choice and Kejriwal is the third choice. I want to know then why are you into this party? The AAP chief said, “There were attempts to weaken me, weaken the party. When I came back from Bengaluru, I spoke to members of my team and sent them the same night to speak to Yogendra bhai. From that day to day before yesterday (Thursday), we tried our best to resolve the problem.” “They (Yadav and Bhushan) first said they had five demands which, if met, they would quit all party posts. It was slightly shocking, normally people say either fix the party or we will quit… It was all a sham. They were showing the world that it was a fight of principles,” Kejriwal added. PTI