AAP removes Ramdas as Lokpal, Bhushan from disciplinary panel

Dissident AAP leader Prashant Bhushan was today removed from the party's disciplinary committee which was reconstituted and internal Lokpal Admiral (retd) L Ramdas shunted out, a day after Bhushan and senior leader Yogendra Yadav were expelled from the National Executive (NE) for "backstabbing" and "hatching conspiraces".

Written by: Press Trust of India
Updated: March 30, 2015, 8:48 AM IST
AAP removes Ramdas as Lokpal, Bhushan from disciplinary panel

New Delhi, Mar 29: Dissident AAP leader Prashant Bhushan was today removed from the party’s disciplinary committee which was reconstituted and internal Lokpal Admiral (retd) L Ramdas shunted out, a day after Bhushan and senior leader Yogendra Yadav were expelled from the National Executive (NE) for “backstabbing” and “hatching conspiraces”.

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At an “emergency” NE meeting here, the party removed Ramdas, a former navy chief, as internal Lokpal and set up a new Lokpal panel, comprising former IPS officers N Dilip Kumar and Rakesh Sinha besides educationist S P Verma. “All these people have given their consent to be part of the party’s Lokpal panel,” party’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta said.

The AAP National Executive, while sacking Bhushan from the disciplinary committee, decided to replace him with a three -member panel headed by Dinesh Waghela. The other members are Arvind Kejriwal loyalist Ashish Khetan and Gupta.

The removal of Ramdas came a day after he was sent an SMS by Gupta, asking him not to attend the National Council meeting to avoid “confrontation”. Miffed over the snub, he then wrote a letter to the Political Affairs Committee criticising the leadership.

Kejriwal has been upset over missives sent by Ramdas and this led to he being asked not to attend the National Council meet. Ramdas said he had come from his village in Maharashtra to attend the meet. However, he said he would not attend the meet to “honour” the party’s request. Removal of Bhushan and Yadav from key panels is being seen as a precursor to their expulsion from the party.

The two leaders yesterday termed the decision to remove them from the party’s national executive a “farce and illegal”, saying they might seek legal recourse. They also hinted at floating another party if required, claiming the support of a big section of AAP workers.

The nearly month-long war between Kejriwal and the two leaders ended with a showdown on Saturday with the two founder-members being ousted in a 247-8 vote at the 311-member NC meet that was marred by chaos, charges and counter charges.

with these people. My fight is with corruption and communal forces. I am not here to fight with Prashant ji and Yogendra ji. I have conceded defeat. You people have won. I am here to put an end to this war. You have to decide today. Since last one year, every NE and PAC has seen fights and arguments. You have to decide on whom do you want to choose? Either choose me or them?” he said.The AAP body also announced a committee that will take care of the April 22 agitation against the Land Acquisition Bill, when the party plans to gherao Parliament on the issue.This committee comprises Ilyas Azmi, Prem Singh Pahadi, Yogesh Dahiya, Somendra Dhaka, Gurnam Singh and Kiran Vissa, which would decide on the details of the agitation programme.The party has also formed a committee under the leadership of senior leader and PAC member Sanjay Singh to look into expansion of the organisation in other states. “The AAP organisation in other states will write to us about its organisational status and political situation. They will communicate to us with their reports in 15 days,” Singh said.On Ramdas, Singh said he was neither removed nor ousted. His tenure had ended and a new committee formed.An agitated Bhushan said the whole exercise of forming new panels was a “farce”. He said people who has levelled allegations against him and Yadav have been put in these committees. “So how can one expect them to be fair?” he said.

AAP has been embroiled in internal strife soon after it romped home with a thumping majority in the Delhi Assembly polls, winning 67 of the 70 seats.

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