Invitation to AAP MLAs for NC meeting is ‘illogical and irregular', say Yogendra Yadav & Prashant Bhushan

NEW DELHI: Back-to-back press conferences, a sting tape featuring Arvind Kejriwal himself, and a petition signed by 58 MLAs seeking removal of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, Aam Aadmi Party watchers had their day full on Friday as the party moved closer towards the all-important National Council meeting.

While the sting tape has Kejriwal referring to Yadav and Bhushan in allegedly abusive language accusing them of working against the party during Delhi polls, the National Council ( NC) meeting slated for Saturday could prove explosive if the petition by the AAP MLAs is included in the agenda.

AAP MLA and vice-chairman of Delhi Jal Board Kapil Mishra, who drafted the letter a fortnight ago, told ET that the demand for removal of the dissenting duo was added on Friday and sent to Kejriwal.

AAP’s media-in-charge Deepak Bajpai confirmed the letter had been sent to Kejriwal.

This letter appears to have followed Bhushan’s letter to party secretary Pankaj Gupta on Friday morning, which was made public the same afternoon by him in a press conference. Bhushan, in the letter, alleges that, “I understand that you have invited all the MLAs of the Delhi assembly of the NC meeting, even though most of them are not members of the NC. You have, however, not invited even state conveners who have been appointed under the Mission Vistar process. All this is totally illogical and irregular.”

With the battle for the hearts and minds of the volunteers and middlerung leaders intensifying, the two warring factions accused each other of lying in rebuttals. Through all of Friday, factions leaked internal letters and telephone recordings to show each other in poor light while claiming themselves to have tried to resolve the crisis.

Soon after the duo hit out at Kejriwal and his associates, party leaders Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan called a press conference early evening to rebut the dissenting duo’s claims and alleged that an understanding had been reached on Wednesday afternoon at around 2 pm but by 6 pm, Yadav called Kejriwal’s aides and allegedly informed them of the former’s inability to arrive at an understanding.