'Yadav, Bhushan wanted AAP to lose in Delhi'

New Delhi, March 10: The AAP crisis worsened on Tuesday, with four leaders known to be close to party chief Arvind Kejriwal accusing senior colleagues Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan of having attempted the party’s defeat in the Feb 7 Delhi assembly polls. The allegation was levelled in a statement by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, minister Gopal Rai and two other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Pankaj Gupta and Sanjay Singh. It prompted Yadav to say that he hoped the charge would lead to an “open, transparent dialogue” for the truth to prevail. Prashant Bhushan said: “Time has come for the country to know the whole truth about the matter and the truth will come out soon.” In a joint statement, the four leaders on Tuesday said the AAP tiol Executive decided on March 4 to “release” Bhushan and Yadav from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) — the party’s highest decision-making body — and assign them new responsibilities. “While all workers were struggling to ensure the party’s victory, the trio - Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav and Shanti Bhushan - were making all-out efforts for the party’s defeat (in Delhi),” the statement said. “The PAC did not publicise the reasons behind the move as it could affect the senior duo’s reputation,” it said, in reference to Prashant Bhushan, an AAP founder member and a senior Supreme Court advocate, and Yadav, widely seen as a leading political expert. Shanti Bhushan is Prashant Bhushan’s father and also a leading advocate. “But the manner in which an atmosphere has been created that the tiol Executive was undemocratic and irresponsible, and the questions raised in the minds of the AAP activists, we are compelled to give this explation,” the statement added. The statement further said that not only did Prashant Bhushan openly support AAP’s breakaway group which maligned the party with the backing of the BJP, he threatened to sabotage the party’s poll preparation by holding press conferences. (IANS)