Even as the rift within the Aam Aadmi Party is out in the open, rebel members Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan will be holding a ‘Swaraj Samvad’ convention in Gurgaon on Tuesday to decide on their future in the party. The event is taking place even as the AAP leadership has warned disciplinary action against those attending the meet.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, “The event hasn’t been sanctioned by the party. Rebels are going public rather than keeping it in the party.”
Singh said party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and its National Executive (NE) would decide the next move in this regard after the meeting.
Backing Singh, party spokesperson Ashutosh said the people attending the event should be responsible for their actions. “My best wishes with these people. The only thing being that we will be monitoring all activities. I am not aware whether Arvind Kejriwal was invited for the meet. Since it is not an official party meeting, so whosoever attends it, should do so on his own responsibility.”
AAP’s Timarpur MLA Pankaj Pushkar, tribal activist Soni Sori and rights activist Aruna Roy are expected to attend the event. Yadav said over 100 candidates who contested on AAP tickets in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections will attend the event. AAP member from Assam Professor Apurba Baruah is one of the conveners of the meeting.
Pushkar claimed that the mood in the party is divided. He said, “There might be repercussion but I hope better sense will prevail.”
Sources close to Yadav and Bhushan said the rebel camp will not announce floating of a new party, but will raise issues of inner-party democracy and transparency in the organisation at the event.
Yadav said they have received tremendous response from the volunteers across the country and this has compelled them to change the venue. “We have given an open invitation to everyone about this. We have got an overwhelming response for the event and this has forced us to change the venue. From different corners of country, volunteers and supporters will be attending the event. Some special guests will also attend the meeting,” he said.
