Messy but quick: Expulsion of Yadav and Bhushan executed to perfection at AAP National Council

New Delhi: It was violence, not internal democracy, that decided the fate of the Prashant Bhushan-Yogendra Yadav camp at the Aam Aadmi Party’s National Council meeting today. [caption id=“attachment_2178059” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (centre) with Yogendra Yadav (left) and Prashant Bhushan. Reuters[/caption] In a highly charged and disorderly meet, the Kejriwal camp managed to boot out Bhushan, Yadav, Professor Anand Kumar and Professor Ajit Jha from the party’s National Executive. If there was a prepared script for the ouster of these senior members, it was executed to perfection. Members associated with the Bhushan-Yadav faction claimed they were “heckled and beaten up” by bouncers present inside the venue. “When I said in the meeting that both sides should be heard before any conclusion is reached, a group of ‘gundey’ (hooligans) rushed towards me and started misbehaving. Then bouncers were called in. They dragged me out of the meeting hall and beat me up brutally. I have suffered a broken leg. They forced me to sit outside until the meeting is over,” NC member from Mewat in Haryana, Ramzan Chaudhary, told Firstpost. Another member, Sanjiv Walia, was also allegedly assaulted by the “AAP goons” for “raising voice” against the Kejriwal faction. “Everything was pre-planned. The goons, who are unfortunately our MLAs, were specially called to deal with us by indulging in violence. When I opposed the resolution moved by (Deputy Chief Minister) Manish Sisodia to remove Prashantji, Yogendra Yadav, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, party MLAs started shouting and slapping and punching me. I was pulled out of the meeting venue,” Walia said. Alleging that he was also assaulted by leaders associated with the Kejriwal faction, Professor Ajit said, “Today’s, NC meet crossed all limits of discipline. Scores of leaders overpowered and kicked me when I tried to stop them from rushing toward the party’s senior-most leader Shanti Bhushanji.” Sources said that at the conclusion of his emotional address, Kejriwal, who is AAP’s national convener, said he could not tolerate those who tried their best to defeat the party in the Delhi assembly elections and therefore, they should be removed from the NE on charges of indulging in anti-party activities. Gopal Rai was appointed as the chairman of the meeting. “When dissenting leaders asked Rai to let them present their views as well, the chairman asked them to give him in writing whatever they want to say. In the meantime, Kejriwal’s lieutenant Sisodia stood up and announced that 167 members of the NC has signed a resolution which urged the house to throw out Bhushan, Yadav, Kumar and Jha from the party’s NE. He asked others who support the resolution to raise their hands. A total of 113 additional members raised their hand which took the total number of supporters to 280. While 10 members voted against the proposal, eight abstain from voting. The total attendance was 298,” said the source who was present in the meeting. Expressing their displeasure over the move, some supporters of the dissenting group, according to sources, said their signature was taken when marking attendance and then it was showed as support to the resolution. Coming out of after their removal from the NE, Yadav told reporters, “It was murder of democracy. The script of such meeting was prepared earlier and all the moves were pre-planned.” Alleging “gundagardi (use of muscles power)” inside, Bhushan said, “Kejriwal did whatever he was heard as saying in the audio tape released yesterday. Those who are called our MLAs resorted to violence and ‘gundagardi’ to curb our voices. Democracy has been slaughtered.” In the audio of a “private conversation” took place between Kejriwal and Umesh Singh, AAP volunteer from Varanasi, the AAP chief was caught on tape abusing Yadav, Bhushan, Kumar and Jha. He is saying that “had they been in another party, they would have been kicked on their backs and booted out”.