AAP: Yogendra Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal camps discuss contentious issues
Goth the sides 'in agreement in principle' on most of the issues, but the only hitch is how to operationalise the issues
New Delhi: Amidst hectic negotiations to resolve the contentious issues between the two warring factions in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), senior party leaders met dissident leader Yogendra Yadav on Thursday, the fourth meeting between the two camps since last three days.
People familiar with the matter said that both the sides were “in agreement in principle" on most of the issues, but the only hitch is how to operationalise the issues.
Discussions on future of Yadav in the party and what responsibility will he be given to him is also being worked out.
The Arvind Kejriwal camp represented by Delhi unit secretary Ashutosh and Delhi Dialogue Commission chairman Ashish Khetan met Yadav along with Ajit Jha on Thursday morning to dicuss the nitty-gritties of how to take the discussion forward.
Meanwhile, there was another meeting between Yadav and another dissident leader Prashant Bhushan today. The meeting went on for around two hours at Bhushan’s office in the Supreme Court. However, both the leaders refused to speak on the issue.
People familiar with the matter said, however, there was still a level of “mistrust" between the two groups and meetings were at least helping bridge the gap.
Incidentally, Bhushan has refused to meet anyone, but Kejriwal. He is being represented by AAP leaders and National Executive members Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha. There are many issues on which the both the camps are not on the same page despite being in agreement. The two camps are also stuck over “theory" and “practicality".
While the Yadav and Bhushan camp insists on addressing certain issues like appointing of Lokaukta, giving more thrust on the volunteers, the Kejriwal camp is expressing quick progress on many issues.
The discussion concentrated on clarity on the decisions taken by the PAC early this week, which included expanding and contesting in other states and preparing an active list of volunteers.
While a decision was taken to prepare an active list of party volunteers, Yadav’s camp insisted that the list should be out in a month while the Kejriwal camp said it would take at least three months to do so.
“We have an experience of 2013 Assembly, 2014 Lok Sabha and 2015 Assembly election. So, we conveyed that we cannot have knee-jerk reactions. The process of resolving issues will take some time," said a party source.
Another contentious issue is identification of states where the party wants to expand in coming years and looking for faces who can represent AAP in those states.
Another discussion that came up was appointing a Lokayukta at the state and district level to resolve issues, as per the party constitution. Currently, the party has only one Lokpal and no Lokayukta at the state or district level.
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