Kumar Vishwas blames Arvind Kejriwal for own remarks on Arun Jaitley: Tracking the AAP duo's volatile relationship

The relationship between dissident Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas and party chief Arvind Kejriwal is fraught with differences and disagreements. The latest example of this now-complicated relationship was when Vishwas on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that his statements against Union minister Arun Jaitley were based on information received as a party worker from Kejriwal. Vishwas told Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw that before making any statement or apology to Jaitley, he wanted to know if Kejriwal lied when he said his allegations against the Union minister were based on documents. [caption id=“attachment_4456231” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Arvind Kejriwal and Kumar Vishwas. Getty images[/caption] After the Delhi chief minister had apologised to Jaitley to “settle” their more than two years old litigation over alleged defamatory statements made against the BJP leader, a close aide of Vishwas said that he will not toe the line. “He (Vishwas) will not apologise and pursue the cases that have been filed against him,” his aide Prabudh Kumar told _PTI_ . AAP has also sidelined Vishwas from its foray into Rajasthan politics. The political affairs committee (PAC) of AAP removed Kumar Vishwas as the party in-charge for the Rajasthan Assembly elections, and appointed its national treasurer Deepak Bajpai as his replacement. AAP national spokesperson Ashutosh had said that Vishwas was “not able to devote time for election preparations due to his preoccupations.” Rajya Sabha nomination The relationship, however, hit nadir when Vishwas was not nominated by the party to the Rajya Sabha. Soon after the AAP announced its nominations for the Rajya Sabha, Vishwas hit out at Kejriwal and said that he has been punished for speaking the truth. Vishwas, who was angling for a Rajya Sabha slot, said that it was difficult to survive in the party if one disagreed with Kejriwal. “In the last one-and-a-half years, I spoke the truth, whether it was on Kejriwal’s decisions or issues like surgical strikes, irregularities in ticket distribution, softness towards extremists in Punjab, JNU incident, among others, and I have been rewarded in the form of punishment,” Vishwas said. “I think that it is a moral victory for a true revolutionary, poet and friend.” The AAP leader also alleged that around one-and-a-half years ago Kejriwal had, in a party’s national executive meeting, said with a smile, “We will finish you, but we will not let you be a martyr.” “I want to congratulate (Kejriwal) that I have accepted my martyrdom,” Vishwas said, according to PTI. Vishwas attacks AAP leadership over performance in Punjab polls Vishwas held the AAP leadership responsible for the defeat in the municipal election in Delhi and the Assembly polls in Punjab and Goa. In an interview to India Today, Vishwas said that instead of blaming the electronic voting machines (EVMs), the party should introspect. He alleged that the party seniors take decisions behind closed doors and even the appointment of labour minister Gopal Rai as the Delhi convener was taken without any discussion with other party members. According to a PTI report, what riled the top brass was the scathing criticism by Vishwas of the AAP leadership over the party’s poor performance in Punjab. However, reports of a rift first emerged in June, 2017 when Vishwas  skipped an _iftaar_ party  organised by the Delhi government. He also stayed away from campaigning in Punjab in 2017, and Rajasthan in January. A controversial video further strained the relationship between Kejriwal and Vishwas, who were once close. “If, in Delhi, you form a government on the anti-corruption plank with the promise of freedom from corruption and fall silent and try to protect your own people when they come under the scanner, you will be questioned by people,” Vishwas said in the video. A party leader told _PTI_ that the video damaged AAP’s image ahead of the MCD polls. Kejriwal camp’s grievances against Vishwas The Kejriwal camp had its share of grievances against Vishwas , whom they disparagingly referred to as a “part-time politician” because of his professional commitments as a poet. An AAP member close to Kejriwal also referred to fears that a “coup” was being planned at the behest of sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra. “After the MCD poll defeat, some leaders and MLAs said Vishwas should lead the party. But, he did not trash the idea. This added to the mistrust that followed the video episode,” he said. The Kejriwal camp stressed that the possibility of a patch-up was bleak, but it was unlikely that the party would crack the whip as Vishwas is popular with the rank and file and has proven oratorical skills, according to PTI. With inputs from agencies