44. Rift Within AAP Worsens  Meeting at Arvind Kejriwals Home Inconclusive

Cheat Sheet | Reported by Sidharth Pandey, Edited by Anindita Sanyal | Updated: March 26, 2015 04:33 IST

NEW DELHI:  The rift within the Aam Aadmi Party that has been growing for over two weeks appeared far from being bridged despite the meeting at Arvind Kejriwal's house on Wednesday evening. Though the party officially said it was hoping for a resolution by Saturday, party sources said the bulk of leaders feel reconciliation will not be easy since the "other side" is sticking to its stand.

Here are the Top Ten developments:

1.    After the meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee, a senior leader and loyalist of party chief Arvind Kejriwal said "efforts were still being made by the 'other faction' (founder members Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan) to seek a regime change in the party."

2.    Senior leader Sanjay Singh, however, said, "We are hopeful of reaching some sort of resolution before the executive meeting ... These issues will be taken up at the party's National Council meeting."

3.    The National Council meeting is expected to focus primarily on the future role of Mr Yadav and Mr Bhushan, who had been openly critical of party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Mr Kejriwal. The two were recently sacked from the Political Affairs Committee.

4.    It was alleged that they wished to remove Mr Kejriwal from the post of the national convenor and wanted the party to lose the Delhi election.

5.    Besides the friction within the party, the Political Affairs Committee discussed the agenda for the National Council meeting, which is to be held on Saturday.

6.    This will include the possible ways to begin a movement against the land acquisition bill, and the progress made by the month-old Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, Mr Singh said.

7.    The party also decided that senior leader Kumar Vishwas will be given charge of the local elections in Mumbai and Pune, who will evaluate the party's prospects.

8.    Several rounds of talks between Mr Kejriwal's supporters, and Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, have reportedly failed to bridge the gap. Sources close to key negotiators Ajay Jha, Anand Kumar and Sanjay Singh had told NDTV the talks have "virtually collapsed".

9.    A "last effort" at reconciliation is being made by AAP's internal lokpal Admiral Ramdas, who is set to meet all sides over the next two days, sources said.

10.The divide in the party was reflected in issues like including volunteers in decision-making and giving more powers to the party's state units, which are also on the agenda of Saturday's meeting.

Story First Published:March 25, 2015 22:47 IST