Mumbai: Senior AAP leader Mayank Gandhi said here on Saturday that he has been targeted by some party leaders for his March 5 statement challenging a gag order and revealing the proceedings of the AAP national executive meeting.
Gandhi claimed a ‘concerted attempt’ is being made in the social media to label him “anti-party and anti-AK (Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal)” and reiterated his statement that a price might have to be paid (by him).
“A small group of party decision makers in Delhi has already removed me from the informal BBM group. Attacks have begun against me from AAP leader Ashish Khetan and others. Some dissatisfied members from Maharashtra have started giving interviews against me, some old cases are being re-opened,” Gandhi said in a blog.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may decide not to fight the BMC polls (Mumbai) or delay the decision for the same, the leadership of Maharashtra will be challenged and discredited by some individuals and information would be leaked to media, he said.
“More will come and I will be finally humiliated so much that I will quit. That was what was planned for (AAP leaders) Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, but they overturned the plan by staying in the party. Let me see if I can withstand the muck that will be thrown,” Gandhi said, expressing apprehensions about the future.
On March 4, the AAP announced that it ousted top leaders Bhushan and Yadav, from its decision-making Political Affairs Committee (PAC).
The announcement was made after a nearly six-hour meeting of the national executive that followed a virtual war between the two leaders and loyalists of Kejriwal.
Bhushan, a leading Supreme Court lawyer and an AAP founder member, and Yadav, a known political expert, were ousted from the nine-member PAC, the supreme body in the party. The party was formed in 2012 and stormed to power in Delhi last month by sweeping 67 of the 70 seats in the assembly.
Referring to his previous blog, Gandhi asserted that he had “personally challenged” a gag order on the proceedings of the national executive and it was not intended to be any form of defiance against the party leadership.
“I am generally non-confrontational…But now is the time to take a stand. This is not to weaken the party nor our leadership, but to strengthen the AAP and the principles that we have espoused,” Gandhi said.
Since the national executive meeting, thousands of worried volunteers from across the world have been asking about the difference between the AAP and other (political) parties, he said.
“I want to tell the country that there is a huge difference and in the next few weeks, we volunteers shall demonstrate the same,” Gandhi declared.
Seeking mass participation in the AAP decision making processes, he cited the example of Iceland which crowd-sourced its constitution in 2013.
“(AAP) volunteers need to propose to the national executive about processes and systems on inner party democracy, volunteer management and communication, constitution of the PAC and national executive, code of conduct for volunteers and leaders, gender justice, conflict resolution mechanisms, and policy stands,” Gandhi said.
He said it is time to participate in the party functioning in the best traditions of ‘Swaraj’, non-confrontational, graceful and constructive, respectful to the leadership.
“We are all learning,” he said.
Gandhi repeated that he truly believed Kejriwal is the hope for the country and his statements were not rebellious, not anti-leadership nor seeking personal attention.