RSS takes on AAP, alleges coterie around Arvind Kejriwal ruling Delhi

New Delhi: With AAP sidelining dissenting voices within the party, RSS on Saturday said it has proved to be worse than any other ‘aam’ party and alleged that a coterie around its convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is ruling Delhi. [caption id=“attachment_2141601” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. AFP[/caption] Taking a dig at Kejriwal over his absence after “crafting the drama” which led to the ouster of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from AAP’s Political Affairs Committee, RSS mouthpiece Organiser said a feeling of “frustration” has crept in among Delhi voters and his NRI supporters, which is “evident” in the social media trends. The 46-year-old Aam Aadmi Party leader was admitted to the Jindal Nature Cure Institute in Bengaluru on Thursday for a 10-day nature cure regimen for treatment of his persistent chronic cough problem and uncontrolled sugar level. Organiser said both Yadav and Bhushan had raised concerns over the criminal antecedents of 23 party candidates for Delhi Assembly polls and that 44 of them had assets worth more than a crore. They were subsequently “ousted,” it said. “With the ouster of Bhushan and Yadav from PAC, the claims of AAP being different has not only faltered, it has also proved to be worse than any other ‘aam (normal)’ party. “From the 49-day stint of AAP in Delhi, it is clear that it is being governed by a coterie around Arvind Kejriwal. People demanding democratic space were either systematically sidelined or forced to resign,” it said in its editorial. Like any other regional formation, AAP is turning out to be a centrally driven party revolving around the “whims and fancies” of one person, Organiser said. The ouster of two founder members from the PAC also hints at the presence of personality cult within AAP. Attacking AAP, the RSS mouthpiece said when objections were raised about source of some dubious donations, the list of contributions from website was removed. “The basis of corruption is electoral expenses, and AAP faltered on this basic principle of transparency for regaining power.” Making light of AAP’s central plank of Lokpal, it said when the party’s internal Lokpal objected to the growing ‘personality cult’ and Kejriwal holding two key positions, its “toothless” National Executive shunted out Bhushan and Yadav who were supporting those recommendations. An editorial in the RSS Hindi mouthpiece “Panchjanya” also criticised the lack of internal democracy and openness within AAP. “People who captured power on the pretext of an ‘andolan’, neither have an ideological basis nor a vision for future. Here differences are unacceptable and thoughts are prohibited,” the editorial said. The editorial claimed that the AAP has dashed the hopes of all Delhiites within a month. “Where there is no place for new thoughts and differences, an individual may find new ways for his own good but at the end will dash the hopes of people,” it added. PTI