AAP rebels Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan may be expelled
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to expel rebel leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, who announced a separate group called the "Swaraj Abhiyan" on Tuesday after weeks of fierce infighting.
AAP's Political Affairs Committee is expected to meet this evening to decide on action against the two leaders, who were recently sacked from the same panel.
Mr Yadav and Mr Bhushan yesterday held a day-long meeting - "Swaraj Samvaad" or self-rule dialogue - where dissidents like them were encouraged to speak up on their grievances against the party and chief Arvind Kejriwal.
AAP had warned that the meeting would be seen as an act of indiscipline, and had hinted at action against everyone involved in the meeting.
The new group will fight for the rights of farmers, women and the common man across the country through protests and rallies, a resolution passed at the meeting said.
Mr Yadav and Mr Bhushan, who founded AAP with Arvind Kejriwal three years ago, held off on announcing a new political party, which had been the widely expected when they called the rebels' meet.
A party will eventually be formed, they said, but "after a struggle for Swaraj at the grassroots level for six months."
AAP last month sacked Mr Yadav and Mr Bhushan from all party posts but stopped short of expelling them.
"This isn't just Kejriwal's party. Yes he worked hard, but so did thousands of other people," Mr Bhushan said as he addressed a gathering of some 4,000 volunteers believed to be disenchanted with the party.
"If we announce a political party, it will be fraught with the same dangers that we see in the Aam Aadmi Party," he added.
AAP accuses the two leaders of trying to unseat Mr Kejriwal and undermine the party's campaign in the Delhi election, which ended with a record result for India's youngest party, and brought Mr Kejriwal back for a second term as Chief Minister.