Kejriwal quits as AAP’s national convenor

mangaloretoday.com/ yahoo

NEW DELHI, March 4: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday resigned as the party national convenor, ahead of AAP’s national executive meeting.

Kejriwal’s resignation comes on a day when the party’s top leadership meets amid internal squabbling.

Kejriwal has said he cannot do justice to both the chief minister’s post and that of the convener.

Kejriwal had earlier offered to resign as the convener, but the move was unanimously rejected.

AAP leader Yogendra Yadav, however, earlier in the day said that Kejriwal staying as the party’s national convener is essential.

"Arvind Kejriwal’s staying in the post is essential for the party. He is the symbol of honesty and politics of truth in the country," he told the media here.

"Politics is a long journey. Phrases that I have heard such as this is not crisis, infighting, civil war, there is nothing as such. This is not a crisis rather is an opportunity," he added.

 

The AAP leader also said that his party stands out from the rest.

"The Aam Aadmi Party always keeps its collar up saying that the party stands out from the rest. Few hours might be of sorrow, of confusion. But I have the belief that this evening the AAP workers would say that, ’see I told that our party stands out from everyone’," he added.

Yogendra Yadav, one of the two leaders in the eye of the storm, however said Wednesday that he would "neither split nor quit" the party.

The differences in the party leadership have come out in the open barely a month after it made a sensational electoral comeback, sweeping 67 of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly.

There were conflicting versions to Kejriwal’s decision to quit.

In one, Kejriwal apparently wrote a letter on February 27 to party secretary Pankaj Gupta saying he wants to quit as the AAP convenor.

In the other, Kejriwal sent a handwritten note Tuesday night saying he wants to resign from the post.

AAP leader Ashutosh said he was not aware of any other note except that of February 27.

Kejriwal, who leaves on Wednesday for Bengaluru for 10 days of naturopathy treatment to check his high sugar level, said on Tuesday that he was "deeply hurt and pained" by the wrangling within the party.

AAP sources have said the majority in the 21-member National Executive, which meets on Wednesday, favoured ousting Prashant Bhushan, a leading Supreme Court lawyer and an AAP founder, and political pundit Yadav from the nine-member, decision-making Political Affairs Committee (PAC).

Yogendra Yadav on Wednesday said: "...whatever seems to be a problem is actually an opportunity to move ahead".

He told reporters in Hindi: "Na todenge, na chodenge. Sudherenge aur sudharenge." (We will neither split AAP nor leave it. We will change ourselves and help change others too)."

He said that AAP was a small party and there was a lot to be learnt by everyone.

Yadav said that for the past three days there had been many messages from party volunteers on the social media asking them to stay united.

"I am sure that in the evening we will be able to tell you that we have moved a step forward and not backward."

He refused to comment on Kejriwal’s decision to quit as party convenor.