"Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal can even join hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for personal gains," Prashant Bhushan has said. (File Photo)
Highlights
- Delhi CM is totally unscrupulous, alleges activist-lawyer Mr Bhushan
- Mr Bhushan was speaking to a small group of Indian-Americans
- He helped Yogendra Yadav found Swaraj Abhiyan after leaving AAP
Arvind Kejriwal could "join hands" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi if it suited him, alleges Prashant Bhushan, who was a key member of Mr Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party before an acrimonious split.
Mr Bhushan, on a private visit to the US, was speaking to a small group of Indian-Americans in Washington when he said, "He (Kejriwal) is totally unscrupulous...The day it suits him, he will join hands with Modi. I have no doubt about it."
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is among PM Modi and his BJP's chief baiters and only this weekend announced that AAP will take on the ruling party in Goa, declaring that the state needs a "revolution."
Mr Bhushan an activist-lawyer who founded the Swaraj Abhiyan along with Yogendra Yadav after the two leaders quit the Aam Aadmi Party last year, said he regrets having not "seen through" Mr Kejriwal earlier.
He used people like me and Yogendra to gain credibility, and at the same time ensured that he enjoys majority in decision-making bodies of AAP so that he can go ahead with his agenda," Mr Bhushan said, alleging that the delhi chief minister, who based his entry into politics on an anti-corruption plank, is in fact not interested in fighting corruption.
"He does not want accountability for himself," Mr Bhushan said.
He does not see his former party making big gains in Punjab, the next state that Mr Kejriwal has set out to win after sweeping Delhi last year. Mr Bhushan instead pitched for a Congress win in Punjab, saying AAP would be "rudderless and chaotic."
"Congress, in fact, is a much nicer choice in Punjab. In my view they would be better than AAP. They (Congress) have experience. There is no principal left in AAP," Mr Bhushan said, ruling out electoral politics just yet for his organisation.
"This will take about a year," he said, adding that before contesting elections, Swaraj Abhiyan wants to establish within itself the "principles of transparency, accountability and democracy."
"We do not want to repeat the mistakes we did in the case of AAP," Mr Bhushan said.