Aam Aadmi Party’s lokpal writes of many rifts within party

The Indian Express had reported on Friday that members of the AAP’s National Executive (NE) had moved towards giving Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal powers to reconstitute the PAC and that senior leader Yogendra Yadav was not likely to find a place in it.

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Yadav’s role in the run-up to the Delhi polls had come under severe scrutiny at a NE meeting held on Thursday. Kejriwal did not attend the meeting and had instead offered his resignation, which was rejected by the NE. Ramdas’s note too had come up for discussion at the meeting.

The note says, “In 2014 December-end, there was a crisis brought about by Prashant Bhushan’s unhappiness with candidate selection and decision-making processes. If these were not addressed, he said he would be forced to resign and go public. To contain this, a special meeting was called in Delhi on January 3-4, 2015, and it was decided to refer the issue to the Lokpal, assisted by a specially selected team.”

When contacted, Bhushan said, “There was a letter by Admiral Ramdas but this is an internal matter and I do not want to comment on it.”

Ramdas’s letter, addressed to the NE and the PAC, said for six to eight months, there has been an abject breakdown in communication between the senior leadership, which resulted in the formation of “two camps”.

“I had hoped that the thumping result in the recent Delhi polls would have restored a positive energy in the party and that many of the mutual suspicions would be laid to rest… Alas, this was not to be, and most recently, while in Delhi during the results and swearing-in, I spent many hours in many difficult conversations where many of the old ghosts were constantly raising their heads.”

Ramdas also raises questions of whether the AAP requires “creative and visionary decisions on redefining the role of National Convenor”, and asks for discussion on whether the CM of a state and the National Convenor can be the same person and discharge duties efficiently”.

He said he was surprised at the manner in which some decisions were taken in June 2014 and that important decisions need far more rigorous processes and methods.

Ramdas also suggests a need for discussions on an internal audit into inner-party democracy, on whether party bodies need to be reconstituted to better represent “different forms of diversity”, as well as the need to bring in improvements in women’s participation.

“I personally find it difficult to defend AAP against accusations of being mainly a ‘Boy’s Club’, especially when we are not able to have even one woman in our team of ministers,” Ramdas said.

He said, “I have been aghast at the way in which decisions taken in our meetings are leaked within minutes; where conversations are recorded and uploaded and sting operations conducted with little or no accountability. Every email and letter I have sent out seems to become common knowledge and often has found its way to the media.”

Speaking to The Sunday Express over phone, Ramdas said, “We were all gearing up for the win in Delhi, and this was a combined effort. It happened because of the hard work of different people — from Yogendra Yadav to Kejriwal. They are all children as far as I am concerned. But it happened because the motives, roots and processes were good and well intentioned. There are rough edges that need to be smoothened and there are problems because, with all humility, the AAP is a two-year old party. We need to solve them, and move past them.”