Headlines
Kejriwal 'deeply pained' by AAP crisis
New Delhi, March 3
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal on Tuesday said he was "deeply hurt and pained" by the open
warfare within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
"I am deeply hurt and
pained by what is going on in the party. This is betrayal of trust (the
people of) Delhi reposed in us," Kejriwal tweeted, adding he won't allow
"people's trust to be broken".
"I refuse to be drawn in this ugly battle. Will concentrate only on Delhi's governance," he added.
Less
than a month after it stormed to power winning 67 of the 70 seats in
Delhi, the AAP is split between senior leaders Yogendra Yadav and
Prashant Bhushan on the one hand and Kejriwal backers on the other.
Kejriwal's
comments appeared to indicate that he was distancing himself from his
known supporters in the party who have threatened to act "tough" against
Bhushan and Yadav for allegedly challenging Kejriwal's leadership.
In
what is being viewed as a veiled attack on Kejriwal, Bhushan and Yadav
have been quoted as questioning the party's "one person-centric"
approach -- in internal communications leaked to the media.
While
Bhushan, an eminent Supreme Court lawyer and a founder member of AAP,
has refused to comment on party affairs to the media, Yadav has been
accused by a section of the AAP of trying to oust Kejriwal as its
national convenor.
AAP leaders who are appealing for peace have denied this.
On
Tuesday, Prashant Bhushan's father and another leading lawyer, Shanti
Bhushan, also called for truce in the party and urged both his son as
well as Yadav to stand by the Delhi chief minister.
As the crisis
escalated, AAP leaders hinted on Monday that when the national
executive meets here on Wednesday, they would act "tough" against those
challenging Kejriwal.
Prashant Bhushan has said he won't attend the meeting because of prior commitments.
The
AAP, born from the anti-corruption campaign of activist Anna Hazare,
was founded in 2012 and came to power in Delhi after the very first
election it contested in December 2013, albeit with Congress backing.
Kejriwal
quit as chief minister on February 14, 2014, leading to President's
Rule in Delhi. He took oath exactly a year later after leading the AAP
to a thumping victory.