In protest against Arvind Kejriwal’s strong-arm tactics, adds to crisis
NewDelhi/Nagpur: The ripples of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) infighting reached the South with an another leader from Tamil Nadu and a member of the National Executive resigning from the panel, protesting the way in which Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were removed from key positions in the party.
Christina Samy, who had voted against the resolution which sought removal of Bhushan and Yadav from the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) on March 4, said the volunteers were feeling “betrayed” and the party has “lost trust in its founding principles.”
She said even if it was to be believed that Bhushan and Yadav had indulged in anti-party activities, the case should have been referred to the party’s internal Lokpal.
“I am resigning from my post in the National Executive Committee as I feel volunteers have been betrayed, AAP has lost trust in its own founding principles and the constitution and system of Lokpal. It has shattered the hopes and dreams of millions of common people,” she added.
“If what Mr Prashant Bushan and Mr Yogendra Yadav claim are false, why was the system we ourselves created – the Internal Lokpal – not implemented,” Samy said in her resignation letter to party chief Arvind Kejriwal.
“Although I have quit from the NE, I am still the member of the National Council,” Samy told media. She, however, did not attend the National Council meet on March 28 as she underwent an knee operation.
The NE’s strength was 21 until March 28. But with the ouster of Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha and now with Samy’s resignation, it has been reduced to 16. It comprises mostly Kejriwal loyalists now.
Taking a jibe at Kejriwal’s coterie, Samy said she was loyal to the “principles” of the party and not any individual.
A woman rights activist from Tamil Nadu, Samy is one of the founder members of the party.
“Before the inception, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal had come to the NGOs asking them to join the ranks. Although not from Indian Against Corruption movement, I joined them even before the party was formed,” Samy added.
Samy, who was AAP’s Tamil Nadu state convenor till February last year, accused the hitherto “people-centered” party of turning a “deaf ear” to the voice of vounteers.
“In the course of recent events these volunteers had remained impartial and were objective when appealing to the National Executive Committee only to find the integrity that was built, nurtured and promised to them, now gone,” she said.
