File photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
New Delhi:
The Aam Aadmi Party appears to be standing on the brink of another rift just three months after the expulsion of founder members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav following a bitter and public acrimony.
Three of the party's four Parliamentarians are irked with the party, sources told NDTV. The lawmakers, all of whom belong to Punjab - the only state where the party won Lok Sabh seats -- claim the party never takes their views into account, they said.
On its part, the party is also not happy with the three, said party sources. The lawmakers, they said, rarely visit their constituencies and it was causing a breach between the party and the people.
Assembly elections in the state are to be held in 2017, and the party is apprehensive that this will have a negative impact on its attempts to build grassroots support.
Sources said on Monday, the three irate legislators held a meeting, where the lawmakers -- Dharamvir Gandhi (Patiala) Sadhu Singh (Faridkote) and Harinder Singh Khalsa (Fatehgarh Sahib) -- aired their grievances.
Today, AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the three Parliamentarians m for a report of their achievements over the last one year. They are to give a complete account, sources said, detailing their activities in terms of the Lok Sabha, their constituencies and the party.
In April, barely two months after it swept the Delhi assembly elections, AAP became embroiled in a bitter and public row with Mr Bhushan and Mr Yadav, who accused Mr Kejriwal of running the party in an autocratic manner.
The party accused them of trying to unseat Mr Kejriwal and undermining its campaign in the Delhi elections.
As the spat dragged on, the party dropped them from key committees, and finally expelled them on April 20.