Arvind Kejriwal Says Kumar Vishwas 'Younger Brother' Amid Split Rumours

New Delhi: The talk that Kumar Vishwas may jump ship from Aam Aadmi Party to the BJP, has surfaced again. This time from within Delhi's ruling party. Senior party leader Amanatullah Khan, who is also a member of AAP's core Political Affairs Committee or PAC, has accused Mr Vishwas of conspiring to take over the party's top post. In case he is thwarted, he would walk away to the BJP with a chunk of AAP legislators, each of whom has been offered Rs 30 crore, Mr Khan said two days after the party's founder member hinted at some unease.

Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, though, was having none of it. A tweet in Hindi from him read, "Kumar is my younger brother. Some people are trying to drive a wedge between us. They are the enemies of the party. They should refrain. No one can separate us." It was retweeted by Kumar Vishwas.

Last week, AAP was trounced in the civic elections in Delhi, where it had swept the assembly polls two years ago, winning 67 of the 70 seats; the BJP got the remaining three.

Mr Kejriwal first blamed Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs for the defeat, then said they had made mistakes. He even circulated a list of dos and don'ts that included an oath not to leave the party and recording of any offer made by the BJP - even if it involved Rs. 10 crore.  

The amount Mr Khan quoted was far higher. Legislators, he said, have been offered as much as Rs. 30 crore each for joining the BJP.

In a WhatsApp message circulated among party leaders, Mr Khan said, "Kumar Vishwas called some legislators and asked them that he should be made the party Convenor". Four AAP legislators, one of them a minister, have been tasked with arranging meetings between party legislators and Mr Vishwas at his home. Another minister has already attended one of these meetings. Mr Khan said all this information came from 10 legislators, but he did not name them.

The party had backed Mr Vishwas in January when a strong rumour started doing the rounds that he was trying to join the BJP. "I have information that after the Uttar Pradesh election, the PM is joining the Congress. He has also met with Rahul Gandhi," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had quipped. Another minister, Kapil Mishra wondered whether Amit Shah was joining AAP.

Yesterday, in an interview with NDTV, Mr Vishwas has indicated that the party in in for structural changes that could go right to the top. He said Mr Kejriwal was surrounded by "Yes Men" and on their advice, had blamed the EVMs, which had not gone down well with the people.