'Dragged out of my own house'...'AAP is Khap': Yadav, Bhushan react after party expulsion

After their expulsion from the Aam Aadmi Party late on Monday night, former party leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the decision, with Bhushan going one step further and declaring that AAP had now become a Khap. “AAP has become a khaap panchayat with only one leader. Everyone listens only to that leader,” a furious Bhushan said at a press conference, taking a dig at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He made a number of allegations against various party leaders and said that the only positive thing that had come out of the entire debacle was that “the nautanki (drama) had finally ended”.  The two leaders were first removed from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), then the National Executive (NE) and finally from the party itself. Yogendra Yadav for his part was more measured sadness than sound and fury. Speaking to television reporters, the erstwhile leader said that the feeling of being expelled was like being thrown out of his own house. “When someone throws you out of your own house, initially you feel angry and sad. But later on, you feel a bit of affection and hope that the person will take care of that house,” Yadav said. “Last night, there was sadness and anger, but today, there is determination,” he said, adding that he would continue to work for the ideals the movement against corruption had started out with. “We had entered politics to fight corruption, not each other,” he said. “Na maine chhori, na maine tori (I didn’t leave, I didn’t break),” he added. [caption id=“attachment_2205016” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan criticised AAP for expelling them from the party. IBNLive[/caption] Bhushan for his part also lashed out at Kejriwal’s supporters. “Some AAP leaders have mortgaged their shame and will do anything for their leader,” he said. He also slammed Pankaj Gupta and Ashish Khetan for allegedly becoming judges against Yadav and him, when they were the same people who had made allegations against them. “Will people like Pankaj Gupta and Ashish Khetan, who have serious charges against them, decide against us?” an indignant Bhushan asked. In their response to the show-cause notice by AAP, issued to them on 17 April, both Bhushan and Yadav had questioned Pankaj Gupta and Ashish Khetan’s presence on the AAP disciplinary committee. Charging that both Gupta and Khetan had led a smear campaign against the two of them, Bhushan and Yadav said Khetan had “planted” stories and instead of taking action against him, AAP chose to reward the former journalist by making him chairperson of the Delhi Dialogue commission, reported PTI. Referring to another case of a donation of Rs 2 crore which allegedly came from dubious firms, Bhushan said that instead of referring the case against Pankaj Gupta and Ashish Khetan to the then party Lokpal, Admiral L Ramdas, the ombudsman himself was sacked from the post. “Instead of taking action against people who are violating AAP’s spirit and constitution, action was taken against us,” Bhushan said. Yadav also criticised the action.  “Nowhere is it possible that a party itself becomes the judge. Out of the three people in the AAP disciplinary committee, two people had made allegations. How can they become judges?” he asked Bhushan meanwhile dismissed legal action against the party.  “We can go to court over this issue. But do we want to spend our time and energy in court? We would rather spend our time on the Swaraj Abhiyan to improve and clean the politics in the country,” he said. On being asked whether he felt sad after being expelled from the party, Bhushan said, “There is certainly a sense of deep regret, there is no personal loss because these are not personal issues. AAP volunteers had a dream of changing the country. Unfortunately, all those dreams are shattered due to the AAP coterie and its leader…We are disappointed with what AAP has been reduced to from what it had started out as.” Yadav also spoke against forming a new political party. “People of the country are not ready for a new political party. Thinking of an entirely new political course would not be appropriate,” he said, although Bhushan seemed to favour not ruling the possibility out. “After Swaraj Abhiyan has shown people the way to new and clean politics, it will be decided whether it needs to become a party.” He also said that he tried his best to ensure that AAP functions “at least minimally” according to the principles it had started out with, but had failed", he said. Yadav addded that he and Bhushan would continue to work for the Swaraj Abhiyan. “If four of us are expelled, it doesn’t change or destroy the Swaraj Abhiyan. People these days are feeling cheated,” he said. (With inputs from PTI)