Extremely upset with the way I was replaced: Admiral Ramdas

NEW DELHI: Former AAP Lokpal Admiral (retired) Ramdas, who was replaced earlier this year following an inner party dispute, said he was extremely disappointed with the way he was shown the door.

In an interview to a television channel, Ramdas revealed that AAP communicated to him about the termination of his tenure through a text message at night, while the party had announced it to the media during the day itself. "The long gap between when the information became public and when it became personal was surprising and unexpected. I could have been shown some courtesy," he said.

Ramdas said that during an informal meeting at Kejriwal's house on February 15, he expressed his desire to retire but the 8-10 senior members present there had insisted that he should continue for another five years. "Arvind was there and said nothing. We say silence is consent and I took it in that form. I had, in fact, not responded to this request," he added.

The former naval chief said he had raised the issue of Arvind occupying position of both the CM of state and national convener and that there should be co-conveners as well. "I had raised these issues because they are relevant to the party's conduct. I am only very disappointed that a letter meant for the national executive was leaked to the media," he said.

On the expulsion of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the party, Ramdas maintained that the constitutional procedures were not followed though blame was to be apportioned to all senior members.

Ramdas defended the Delhi government in its recent power struggle with the LG. "In this particular case I did not see any great urgency for the LG to step in and appoint someone who the CM was opposed to. On the issue of Shakuntala Gamlin, I think Arvind should have expressed his unhappiness to the LG and not made it public," he said.