BackArvind Kejriwal to lead AAP’s protest against land bill
Agitation is seen as bid by AAP to show all is well despite the expulsion of Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and two other founding members
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New Delhi: The protest planned by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday against the land bill of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is as much an effort by a fledgling regional political force to capture an electorate seemingly without a champion and go national in the process as it is an attempt to show the world that all is well in the party, which expelled four founding members earlier this week.
Manisha Priyam, a New Delhi-based political analyst, said: “The party now is clearly divided into two. Yogendra Yadav was leading the protest against land acquisition for the party. It is now a test to see if (party co-founder and Delhi chief minister) Arvind Kejriwal can capture this space. This is a political battle."
Yadav, one of the co-founders of the party, was among the four expelled. The decision to hold the protest was taken at the national council meeting on 28 March, where Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha were removed from the national executive of the party.
But the party signalled on Tuesday that it would like to focus on the protest. A press conference addressed by senior leaders of the party, including Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh and Pankaj Gupta, focused on the land ordinance.
“The protest on Wednesday has been planned from before... From Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and Jharkhand, people are coming in large numbers to take part in the protest. Party volunteers will also be attending," said Sanjay Singh.
The protest at Jantar Mantar, a monument in central Delhi, will be addressed by AAP national convener Kejriwal.
This will be the second protest against the land bill the chief minister will be addressing.
In February, he had come out to protest during the agitation organized by social activist Anna Hazare in the capital.
Late on Monday, the national disciplinary committee of the party expelled founding members Yadav, Bhushan, Kumar and Jha from the party for alleged anti-party activities.
“We had sent a show cause notice on the basis of the complaint received by us. They were given time till 3pm on 20 April. Ajit Jha failed to send in his response. The disciplinary committee met yesterday at 6pm, we saw and discussed their replies. We feel that their activities are against the party and, in such circumstances, they should be expelled from the party," said Pankaj Gupta, a member of the national disciplinary committee and general secretary of the party.
Responding to his expulsion from the party, Yadav said in a written post, “Many thoughts come to the mind. They say that whatever happened was for the good. Let the spirit of the movement be maintained. We will try to create a new model and we will connect with people who share this belief with us."
On Tuesday, the party also removed AAP member of Parliament (MP) from Patiala, Dharamvir Gandhi, as the party’s parliamentary leader.
He was replaced by Bhagwant Mann, who is known to be close to Kejriwal. Gandhi had backed Yadav and Bhushan after the national council meeting.
Senior leaders of the party said it was the party’s prerogative to do this. The AAP has four members in the Lok Sabha.
Pankaj Gupta said, “The decision is against the four. If we feel further action needs to be taken against the others, it will be done."
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