The real battle within AAP: It is Kejriwal vs Bhushan; Sisodia vs Yadav

New Delhi: The exit of senior leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and the National Executive of the Aam Aadmi Party is almost certain. If sources close to the latest developments are to be believed, a formal announcement is expected any time soon. Both are top decision-making bodies of the party. “AAP’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal wants both Bhushan and Yadav out of the PAC and the National Executive and he has already made it clear that the party will have to decide between him and the duo. A formal announcement in this regard will be made at a meeting on Wednesday,” a party insider told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_2132409” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Is the AAP set to jettison the two leaders? PTI image[/caption] According to the source, while Kejriwal has problems with Bhushan, his close associate and deputy chief minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, is not comfortable with Yadav. In a letter dated 26 February, Bhushan had slammed Kejriwal for “overturning collective decisions of the party” and “compromising basic principles” of the political outfit. He had written that the AAP is also adopting a “one-man-centric approach” like other traditional parties.He also accused the party’s leaders of making ‘’surreptitious” efforts to form the government in Delhi with Congress support before the dissolution of the last assembly, despite public posturing to the contrary. “We must also recognise that we have faltered on several counts… We have not even put our accounts on a website. We have put our donations, but not expenses,’’ he wrote. Earlier, his father Shanti Bhushan, one of the founding members of the party, had said that Kejriwal should not hold two posts – that of the national convenor of the party and chief minister. On February 26, Kejriwal had offered to resign as national convenor but it was rejected. It was followed by a move to empower him to reconstitute the PAC, paving the way for the exit of Yadav and Bhushan from the political decision-making processes. Recollecting the real problem between Yadav and Sisodia, a party source said, “The rift within the party deepened after Yadav walked out of the PAC meeting held in January this year called for candidate selection ahead of polls. He was expressing his displeasure at a few ticket aspirants close to Manish Sisodia but it was ignored." “Kumar Vishwas and Ilyas were sent to mediate with Yadav. In the mean time, Sisodia moved a motion requesting the PAC to sack the Yadav-Bhushan duo as they ‘were creating troubles and wanted to impose their ideology on the party’s decision’,” the source who was present in the meeting told Firstpost. The ugly fight between the AAP factions came out in the open in June last year with the emergence of a letter from Sisodia to Yadav in which the former had accused him of fomenting ‘factional fights’ within the party and gunning for AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. “In fact, Sisodia wants full control over the party and does not want people like Yadav and Bhushan who carry an ideological baggage with them,” he said. Both Yadav and Bhushan have offered to quit the PAC but have drawn the 20-member panel’s attention to their demands for organisational reforms. “Yogendraji wants more frequent meetings of bodies like the National Executive and transparency should be reflected in all decision-making bodies of the party,” the source added. Several attempts to contact Bhushan and Yadav failed because they did not respond to calls. Now, the infighting within the party has intensified to the extent that leaders are openly trading charges against each other. Party spokesperson Ashutosh tweeted on Monday, “There is decisive churning in AAP. It’s clash of ideas between ultra left who demand referendum in Kashmir and pragmatic politics of welfarism.” The charge seemed to be directed at Yadav and Bhushan, who are known for their pro-Left views. The latter had earlier advocated that the government should hold a referendum in Kashmir to resolve the issues of the valley. Another damning remark came from party leader Dilip Pandey who alleged that Prashant Bhushan, his father Shanti Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav provided patronage to the Aam Aadmi Volunteers Morcha (AVAM), a body floated by disgruntled AAP members. “The trio (Yadav and Bhushans) facilitated the formation of an anti-party forum called AVAM. There is substantial proof to show that Shanti ji and Prashant gave legal and all other kinds of assistance to AVAM to carry out activities against the AAP,” he said in a letter to the party. “Regular meetings between AVAM members and the trio were held at Bhushans’ residence. When party members like Khetan pleaded with the Bhushans’ to stop supporting AVAM, they were told by Prashant that for him AVAM was like a trade union within the party and he saw nothing wrong in aiding and assisting AVAM,” he added. Another party leader, Sanjay Singh, said on Monday that, “Attempts are being made to remove Arvind Kejriwal. People in the party have made a joke of us.”