Bhagwant replaces Gandhi as AAP leader in Lok Sabha

New Delhi, Hours after the Aam Aadmi Party expelled four rebel leaders, it continued its crackdown against dissidents on Tuesday, when the party removed Dharamvira Gandhi, who had spoken out against expulsion of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the National Executive, as its Parliamentary party leader. Gandhi has been replaced with Kejriwal-loyalist Bhagwant Mann.
The decision came a day after the party expelled rebels Bhushan, Yadav, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha from the party for what it calls ‘anti-party’ activities.
Gandhi, who had trounced Preneet Kaur in Patiala constituency in Lok Sabha polls last year, had been highly critical of the party leadership in the way Bhushan and Yadav thrown out from the party’s top echelons. He had even walked out from the AAP’s National Council meeting on March 28 in protest and had sent his message to Swaraj Samvad Convention on April 14, organised by the rebel camp.
Defending the party’s move of sacking Gandhi, AAP leader Ashutosh said that the decision was taken by party’s top decision-making body and it should be respected.
Attacking Bhushan and Yadav, Mann said the two leaders had been sacked for carrying out anti-party activities.
“I have raised the most questions, participated in most debates and raised concerns about the various bills in the House. If the party wants to give me more responsibilities, I am ready to shoulder them,” Mann said.
Mann, an MP from Sangrur in Punjab, had openly came in out in support of Kejriwal when the party was experiencing a bitter war between the two camps. The comedian-turned politician is popular among the youngsters. He was the most sought after campaigner in Delhi Assembly polls after Arvind Kejriwal, party sources said.
Khetan targets Bhushans
Top AAP leader Ashish Khetan hit back at lawyers Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant, accusing them of making an “industry” of PILs and building an empire out of it.
“Dissidence cannot be suppressed and here lies everything. You cannot expect Gandhi to sit back and not talk against what (wrong) is happening in the party,” Dharamvira Gandhi said.
Later, senior leaders held a press conference to defend the actions taken against the rebels and to back Khetan, against whom Prashant Bhushan levelled a charge of indulging in paid news in favour of a corporate.
Attacking Bhushans, Khetan questioned how the father-son duo build their assets and dared them to prove the charges.
“I am not going to spare the Bhushan family. Either they prove their honesty or my dishonesty,” Khetan said while accusing the Bhushans of acquiring huge assets dishonestly.
“Those who take government land everywhere, capture houses…how can they call others corrupt? How did Bhushans build the empire…by making an industry of PILs? If they give evidence that I accepted money for writing a news item, then I will quit politics. If they cannot prove it, then they should quit public life,” Khetan told reporters in the morning.
Responding to Khetan’s challenge, Shanti Bhushan dared him to expose them.
“Let him expose us. He will get exposed. Our family is the most honest family in the country. No one can question our integrity. Neither Prashant Bhushan nor my integrity,” Shanti Bhushan said.
Shanti Bhushan compares Kejri with Hitler
Launching an attack on AAP for expelling the rebels, Shanti Bhushan, once addressed as AAP’s patron, also compared Kejriwal with Adolf Hitler while his son termed the party as a ‘khap-panchyat’ — referring it to the kangaroo courts that dispense justice in Haryana.
“It’s not AAP, but a khap panchayat. The khap panchayat has a dictator (Kejriwal) and the panchayat members work as per his order and do his buttering,” Prashant said.
Will strive to create a new model: Yadav
While Yadav said that he would strive to create a “new model” and connect with the people in an effort to keep the spirit of the movement “alive”.
Yadav also sought an apology from the Arvind Kejriwal-led party for running a campaign and charging him with working to defeat AAP in the elections and conspiring to unseat Kejriwal from the National Convenor’s post.
“For two months you run a vicious campaign against me saying I wanted the party to lose the elections and conspired to become the National Convenor. And when it comes to disciplinary committee and formal inquiry you just drop those charges and come up with another complaint with 12 new items.
“The old charges are mentioned towards the end of the letter. So someone does owe us an apology,” he said.

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