Prashant Bhushan" AAP dissenters are being targeted
'The same people who clamoured for a Lokpal whose selection
must not be left for the government are today saying they will
themselves appoint their own Lokpal. Though our party constitution says the
outgoing members of the Lokpal will appoint their successors...'
Prashant Bhushan was one of the four leaders who were voted
out of the AAP’s National Executive at a the party’s National Council meeting
on Saturday. Bhushan, who had raised questions on the party’s functioning and
was voted out of the Political Affairs Committee as well, has alleged that
hooliganism and goondagardi was rampant in the Council.
Personally, how much has this controversy hurt you?
It has hurt me personally. But it is not so much a question
of personal hurt. It is the fact that people whom I worked closely with and who
I had supported have descended to such levels of resorting to blatant lies,
resorting to fabrications, of resorting to all kinds of unethical and illegal
means and now resorting to hooliganism and goondaism. That is what is most
hurting. That even the minimum modicum of decency… For example, I didn’t actually
see this because I was looking in front. I was sitting towards the front and I
was looking at the front. But when this ruckus started towards the end of
Arvind’s speech, his MLAs rushed to say: “gaddaron ko phek do, phek do”.
They rushed towards my father because his speech was partly aimed at him. My
father says he felt the same thing… it was like the one time he was attacked by
dacoits and didn’t know if he would come out alive or not.
So, what kind of
MLAs, what kind of people have we bred? What kind of culture have we bred? And
all this was on the instructions, planning and the full encouragement of
Arvind. He himself instigated those people, he was there when this was
happening. That is why I say that it has become like a Stalinist purge. The manner
in which this purge is happening within the party, the manner in which they
removed Anand Kumar, Ajit Jha, Yogendra Yadav and me and now the Lokpal
himself. And now all these MLA’s that dissented are being targeted. Its like a
Stalinist purge.
One of the things that they have questioned is that while
the party never had the policy of one man, one post, it does have the policy
debarring more than one person of a family holding a post. They say that your
sister and father both held posts. How do you answer that?
It was that two members of a family can’t hold two executive
posts. My father was not holding any executive posts, my sister was also not
holding any executive posts. She was originally organisation development
adviser which was not an executive post. She was thereafter AAP global team
coordinator which was also not an executive post. She was not in any decision
making capacity in the party, to make an executive decision. But it is really
remarkable that the persons that are raising this issue and wanted to bring an
amendment, that two persons of one family can’t even be invitees in order to
prevent my father to be invited, are the same people who are most vociferously
saying Arvind should continue to hold the post of Chief Minister as well as
National Convener.
The same people who clamoured for a Lokpal whose selection
must not be left for the government are today saying they will
themselves appoint their own Lokpal. Though our party constitution says the
outgoing members of the Lokpal will appoint their successors. Quite apart from
the fact that the Lokpal’s term was deemed to be renewed by the fact that he
was being asked to function by the party as the Lokpal as late as in February.
And under the party’s constitution, his term could be renewed for three years.
But yet, when he become inconvenient, when they don’t want a neutral observer
at the meeting, they tell him not to come, and they remove him because he has
been receiving complaints about the conduct
of the meeting itself. Then they proceed to appoint his successor without
consulting him.
In the run up to the Delhi elections, while you had
raised questions on 12 candidates, it is alleged that you worked against the
party and told people not to donate, not to volunteer?
No, that is a misreading. I had said that I am not donating
this time. You see, there was a whole history to all this. History was that
there were institutional problems that one started seeing
immediately after the Lok Sabha elections. It started with this attempt to form
the government in Delhi immediately after the Lok Sabha elections with Congress
support.
Which we had opposed. Majority of the PAC opposed, and majority of the
National Executive opposed. Arvind continued with that attempt and went to the
extent, as the Rajesh Garg sting reveals, of asking people to break away six
MLAs from the Congress party. The very six MLA’s whom he had himself accused of
having bought over by the BJP for Rs 4 crore each. So he had become so
desperate that he wanted to form a government in Delhi with the support of six
bought over MLAs.
Thereafter, there was this communal poster printed
anonymously by the party that “Kaum ke gaddaron ne haath milaya” and
when the party was caught with that, they then put up Amanatullah to take the
flak for that and offered him the Okhla seat. Then came this issue of the SMS
sent by AVAM, which was also sent by the party, but sent in the name of someone.
Then came the issue of the party contesting the elections in Haryana and
Maharashtra where in the National Executive, by a majority of 5-4, to allow the
states to take their own decisions. But the decision was not allowed to be
implemented. Then came this issue of candidate selection. Which, as I said, was
completely non transparent, a departure from previous practices.
Names were not put up on the site, and names and biodatas
were not being sent to the PAC, which was the final approval body. Even when I asked
for it, they were not being sent to me in advance. Then, when we objected to
certain candidates, they stopped sending it to the PAC. And they got a lot of
people as candidates who were pure political enterpreneurs, who had no
ideological commitment. So you see at that stage I said look if this is how the
candidates are being selected I will have to resign from the party, and
make public the reasons for my resignation. Which is what they are saying I
threatened to hold a press conference.
Yes, I did threaten them that if this is not redressed I
will have to resign and resign publicly where I will have to give my reasons.
At that stage an emergency meeting was held at my residence on
January 4 in which I said all these things. And then it was agreed that all
right, as a temporary thing, these complaints against the candidates would be
referred to the Lokpal and these institutional issues would be taken
up within two days of the elections by the National Executive. Meeting of the
NE was delayed till February 26, but instead of taking up the issues of
institutional reforms it started with Arvind saying that I am resigning because
I want these two people out...
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