Bhushan, Yadav issue joint statement; reject allegations

Ousted members of Aam Aadmi Party’s Political Affairs Committee Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan on Wednesday rebutted the allegations of anti-party activities levelled against them by the party's top brass and raised questions about the 'unilateral decisions' by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

The duo, in a joint letter to volunteers, however, hoped to work for party unity in future as it was an "opportunity to strengthen" AAP, saying the organisation was much bigger than any individual.

The letter gives point by point clarifications to all the points raised against them by top brass of the AAP including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Gopal Rai.

Alleging that the rift between Kejriwal and them started after the Lok Sabha polls when the AAP chief mooted forming a government again in Delhi with the support of Congress which they opposed.

"Kejriwal was adamant on formation of government. We opposed this and insisted that it would send a very wrong signal among the volunteers across the country, as Congress has recently been rejected by Delhi voters completely. However, Kejriwal went ahead with his efforts on formation of government and he continued till a month prior to elections," reads the letter.

The leaders also rejected the allegation that they were releasing some very confidential communications, saying if they wanted they could have made public some secret papers which would have really harmed the party.

"It was also very strange that after the Lok Sabha elections, Sisodia, Sanjay and Ashutosh demanded that all members of PAC should put in their papers so that Kejriwal could restructure new PAC. Even demands were made to disband national executive also. So it was pertinent to oppose those unconstitutional moves," the letter says.

However, the leaders said they wished speedy recovery for Kejriwal who is undergoing diabetes treatment in Bengaluru.

"We hope that Arvind Kejriwal would come back in Delhi soon and sort out the things in a way that party's unity and soul be working together... We would continue to work for the betterment of the party," the letter added.