New Delhi, March 28 (IANS) Dissident leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were sacked on Saturday from the National Executive of the AAP, a party that had stormed to power in Delhi last month.
Yadav's supporters Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha were also removed from the Aam Aadmi Party's 21-member National Executive, the party's highest executive body that coordinates its activities at the national level.
"Democracy has been murdered in the National Council meeting," said a visibly miffed Yadav after coming out of the meeting. Bhushan said people who disagreed with Kejriwal were beaten up and thrown out of the meeting.
Yadav and Prashant Bhushan had branded Kejriwal an autocrat surrounded by "yes men" and accused him of deviating from the party's ideals. The AAP, in turn, had accused them of having tried to sabotage the party in the run up to the Delhi polls last month which it won handsomely.
Nearly 300 people were present in the meeting where Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia moved the resolution to oust Yadav and Bhushan. The resolution was passed, bringing the curtains down for the two founder members of the party that was born in 2012.
A large number of AAP activists had turned up at the meeting venue. Holding placards against Yadav and Bhushan, volunteers said that they were present for the interest of the party.
"Please stay united," read a placard. Another one read: "We are with you Arvind Kejriwal."
AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta said 247 members had voted in favour of the proposal to remove the four members from the National Executive. He said only eight people opposed it while two gave their dissent in writing. Fifty-four members expressed no view, he said.
Yadav had earlier claimed there was no proper voting for taking the decision of ousting them.
"This is murder of democracy... There was no distinction between members and invitees. Manish Sisodia announced they have a petition signed by 160 people... There was no voting, no discussion," said Yadav, a psephologist.
He added: "There were many people who opposed it, they were not even given the chance. It is a total mockery of democracy."
Bhushan, a noted Supreme Court lawyer, claimed the AAP meeting was scripted. "Everything happened there in a planned manner. It seems that everything was scripted," Bhushan said.
AAP member Sanjay Singh denied that anyone was beaten up during the meeting. "No violence had taken place. No one was hit or injured," he told media after the meeting.
Yadav and Bhushan had five demands -- transparency in the AAP, autonomy for local units, a Lokpal probe into graft charges against party members, AAP should come within the ambit of the RTI, and an end to secret ballot during election to key posts.
Ever since the AAP came to power in the national capital by winning 67 of its 70 assembly seats, the party has been embroiled in an internal crisis that has pitted Bhushan and Yadav against Kejriwal, the party's best known face.
Anand Kumar, a Jawaharlal Nehru University professor who was also ousted, however said they will not leave the party.
Giving his account of the events, he said: "Kejriwal said we caused trouble in the elections, and asked members to decide whether we should be ousted. But they did not let us speak."
"We are not out of the party. We will neither leave nor break the party. This is a party of the workers," he said.
They also said one of Yadav's supporter was injured in the fracas.
Vijay Diwas: Salute to the heroes of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, The President and Prime Minister also paid tribute
Vijay Diwas celebrations, a symbol of India's historic victory in the 1971 war against Pakistan, are being celebrated today. On Monday, Vijay Diwas celebrations were held at Fort William, the Eastern
Judge dismissing the bail of rape accused, some people do not understand the meaning of girl's 'no'
In a Himachal Pradesh court, the judge refused to give bail to the rape accused, saying 'no means no'. The man is accused of raping a 17-year-old girl and had argued in court that he knew the girl and
Ukraine's war: what new strategy the western countries are making to stop Russia
Three conferences are being held a month after Russia attacks Ukraine. US President Joe Biden arrived in Brussels on Thursday to take part in these conferences. NATO, G-7, and the European Union are
PM Modi to visit West Bengal, will issue a book, commemorative coin, and postage stamps related to his letters on the birth anniversary of Netaji
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kolkata on January 23 to address the 'Parakram Divas' function on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The
Corona Virus: First to 8th class examinations canceled in Maharashtra, students will be promoted in the next class without exam
New Delhi: The number of corona virus-infected patients is once again increasing in the country. At the same time, Maharashtra has the highest number of cases of coronavirus in the country. Keeping
Supplementary budget of Yogi government: Salary of Shiksha Mitra, Asha, and Anganwadi workers will increase in UP
The Yogi government, engaged in the preparations for the Uttar Pradesh elections, presented the first supplementary budget for the financial year 2021-22 in the Legislature on Wednesday. Along with
Nobel Peace Prize: US-Russian journalists got respect, played an important role in protecting freedom of expression
The Nobel Peace Prizes for 2021 have been announced. This time the Nobel Committee has chosen two journalists for this honor. One of them is American journalist Maria Resa, founder of Rappler Media
How did Maulana Saad become 'rich' of Markaz? Many shocking revelations are being done in the investigation of Crime Branch
New Delhi: As the investigation of the crime branch in Nizamuddin's Tabligi Jamaat case is proceeding, there are many startling revelations. The Crime Branch has so far found out in its investigation
Attack on Lalu's daughter Kangna: Rohini said- The queen of fake Jhansi looks like a traitor, you are a slave of power
Lalu Yadav's daughter Dr. Rohini Acharya has now launched a scathing attack on actress Kangana Ranaut's statement that the country got independence in 2014. Rohini made several tweets without naming
Pfizer's vaccine effective against beta and gamma variants of Corona, know what were the results
In the second wave of the corona epidemic, different variants or forms of corona across the world remain a matter of concern. The effect of different vaccines against it is different. Meanwhile, good
