New Delhi — Ousted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Prashant Bhushan has indicated he will form a new political party after he and Yogendra Yadav were expelled from the national executive. According to reports, all the volunteers will meet on April 14 to take a concrete decision over the matter.
The meeting is expected to be attended by several members of the party's national executive and national council.
On Saturday, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were ousted from the party's national executive. Out of the 311 national executive members present in yesterday's national council meeting, an overwhelming 247 members voted against Bhushan and Yadav while just 8 votes were cast in their favour.
The party also removed Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha from the national executive.
"My opinion is that the spirit of the AAP movement has to be kept alive. We must march forward. We must not allow these incidents and negativity to affect us. We should move forward. The way to move forward would be to generate energy in the country,” Yadav told PTI.
The party's internal rift had widened after Yadav and Bhushan were accused of working for party's defeat during the Delhi Assembly polls last month.
Meanwhile, RPI (A) chief Ramdas Athawale has invited the duo to join his party.
"Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav had a key role to play in the magnificent victory of Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi Assembly polls. Removing them from the party's national executive is an injustice to them. I invite them to come and be a part of the RPI," Athawale told reporters. The RPI is founded on the principles of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and thus, is party of the common man, the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Amid chaos and high drama, a resolution to remove the two dissident leaders along with their supporters Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha from the powerful panel was passed during AAP's national council meeting.
Later, veteran social activist Medha Patkar had resigned from AAP yesterday stating that the party had reduced itself to a "tamasha."
But Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has reassured voters that the Aam Admi Party was "doing alright".
In his first interaction with media after the charged National Council meeting, Kejriwal responded to a question on the upheaval in the party saying, "party theek thaak hai (the party is doing alright)."
The party also discontinued services of its internal Lokpal Admiral Ramdas after he was critical of the leadership. He has been replaced by a three-member Lokpal panel comprising two former IPS officers and one educationist.
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