Bhushan, Yadav slam AAP leaders, question discipliry action

New Delhi, April 20: Dissident AAP leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav on Monday replied to the party’s show-cause notice for holding an “anti-party” meet, describing it as a “pre-scripted drama where the outcome is already decided and well-known”.

Bhushan and Yadav replied separately to the notice on Monday. Bhushan accused Aam Aadmi Party’s general secretary Pankaj Gupta of accepting Rs.2 crore dotion from shell companies and Ashish Khetan of writing a planted story in a tiol magazine defending a telecom company, allegedly involved in 2G spectrum scam.

“I received your ‘Show Cause Notice’ around midnight on April 17. Frankly, I have been in a dilemma on whether to respond to this communication. On the one hand it appears part of a pre-scripted drama where the outcome is already decided and well-known,” Yadav said in his lengthy reply, indicating that he would be ousted from the party. He cited various instances - like selection of candidates for the 2015 assembly elections in Delhi - where the party violated its constitution.

Replying to the show-cause notice for holding “anti-party” meeting in Gurgaon last week, Bhushan reiterated that the AAP’s actions were reminiscent of Stalinist purges, where in the early years after the Soviet Revolution Stalin’s acolytes were both the accusers and judges of the dissidents both in the party and the government.

He charged Khetan with writing a planted story in a tiol magazine defending a telecom company, allegedly involved in 2G spectrum scam. “You (Gupta) know that there have been serious charges against you, including the acceptance of dotion of Rs.2 crore from shell companies, without taking the approval of the PAC as required by the party’s rule,” Bhushan said in his reply addressed to Gupta.

“Khetan, a member of the discipliry committee, has been accused of writing (as a jourlist) a planted story in a tiol magazine in defence of the Essar company, which was charge sheeted by CBI in the 2G case,” he said.

The AAP was quick to reject the charges as “baseless”.

“These allegations are baseless. The rebels have disrespected the Political Affairs Committee and the tiol Executive of the party. Discipliry Committee will take any action against the rebels. They were asked to reply to the party but they are answering to the media,” AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said. In his four-page reply, Bhushan lamented that while these matters should have been referred to AAP Lokpal Admiral Ramdas, he himself was removed from the post. (ians)