File picture of AAP leader Mayank Gandhi.
Arvind Kejriwal had told his Aam Aadmi Party that he would quit as chief if Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, who have repeatedly criticized him, continued in a key decision-making panel, a party leader said in a blog post today.
Mayank Gandhi, a senior AAP leader from Maharashtra, has gone public with his strong objection to the manner in which Mr Yadav and Mr Bhushan, both founder members, were voted out of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) at AAP's meeting on Wednesday.
Arvind Kejriwal is in Bengaluru for 10-day naturopathy treatment for his high sugar and coughing problem.
Mayank Gandhi's blog post, '
Note to Volunteers', begins with an apology and says it would be "dishonest to accept the (party's) gag order."
He shares that the meeting was called because Mr Kejriwal, who had tweeted on Tuesday that he did not want to be dragged into the infighting, had told the party that he could not work with Mr Yadav and Mr Bhushan anymore.
"On 26th Feb night when members of the NE went to meet him, Arvind conveyed that he will not be able to work as convenor if these two members were part of the PAC," he writes.
He says Yogendra Yadav had said he and Prashant Bhushan "would be happy to stay out" of the panel. Mr Yadav suggested two options - that the panel be reconstituted or that he and Mr Bhushan stay out of the meetings of the current panel.
Mr Kejriwal's second-in-command Manish Sisodia discussed the ideas with AAP's Delhi leaders Ashish Khaitan, Ashutosh and Dilip Pandey - the three are powerful but don't have voting rights - and finally moved a resolution to drop the leaders.
"I was taken aback by the resolution of removing them publicly, especially as they themselves were willing to leave....While I agreed that they can step down from the PAC, the manner and intention behind the resolution was not acceptable," Mr Gandhi said.
Yogendra Yadav told reporters, "I don't want to comment on the blog, but I only want to say one thing. Finally, truth prevails."