AAP tries to end rift; Kejriwal says will meet Yadav, Bhushan

The warring factions of the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday have shown signs of putting aside their differences with Delhi Chief Minister and party chief Arvind Kejriwal agreeing to meet his estranged colleagues Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav.

Senior leaders AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan -- all known to be Kejriwal loyalists -- met Yadav late Monday night and held discussions on several contentious issues. Both the camps termed the discussions as "positive".

The efforts for rapprochement by both the sides picked momentum following Kejriwal's return here last night after 12 days of naturopathy treatment in Bengaluru for his chronic cough and diabetes.

Kejriwal and Yadav briefly interacted at a city court where they were summoned in a defamation case.

AAP's powerful Political Affairs Committee met in the evening at Kejriwal's Kausambi residence and discussed the internal rift.

On Monday, Yadav and Bhushan had extended an olive branch to Kejriwal by seeking a meeting with him and the AAP chief on Tuesday responded by saying will meet them "soon". An SMS was sent to Kejriwal on Monday morning on behalf of both the leaders.

"We were bothered with what was happening in the party for the past few days. We started talks with Yogendra (Yadav) bhai. The start was good," Sanjay Singh tweeted. Sources close to Yadav too echoed similar sentiments.

On Kejriwal's affirmative response, Yadav said, "He (Kejriwal) will surely meet whenever he gets time."

Bhushan has declined to meet anyone except Kejriwal to sort out their differences. Khetan had requested him for a meeting but Bhushan refused to meet him.

"He (Khetan) had asked for a meeting this morning but I responded saying meeting you would not serve any purpose and I would like to meet Arvind," Bhushan told PTI.

Bhushan added that Kejriwal told him he was busy until the Budget session next week and will meet him thereafter.

Yadav said that the party had bounced back many times in the past even after a section wrote its "obituary".

"The talks will be taken ahead. I am maintaining from the first day that a lot of hope is associated with this party. Last few days 'manthan' have produced a lot of visha. It's time for amrita," Yadav said.

Over the past few weeks, AAP had been embroiled in internal turmoil with leaders from both the camps making accusations and levelling allegations against each other.

The Kejriwal camp had alleged that Bhushan and Yadav wanted the party to lose the Delhi Assembly elections and were attempting to remove the Delhi chief minister from the post of AAP National Convener.

In the party's last National Executive on March 4, Yadav and Bhushan were voted out from the PAC over accusations of working against the party and trying to malign Kejriwal's image.

"There is peace after a three-hour sleep. There is peace now. We will be successful," party leader Kumar Vishwas tweeted in the morning.

Sources in the party said the meeting with Yadav was an attempt to "break the ice". They said the discussions continued until 3 am.

"The meeting was preliminary in nature. Prashantji (Bhushan) had already sent a message yesterday. There was a lot of bad blood, so at least there was a meeting, which itself is a positive sign. We all had not spoken to each other since the March 4 meeting.

"But still there are issues on both the sides which need to be sorted out. However, it would be too early to comment on how things will pan out in coming days," said an AAP leader.