Does Kejriwal have the numbers to sack Yadav and Bhushan?

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has made all preparations to throw Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan out of the party, at its crucial National Council meeting on Saturday.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has made all preparations to throw Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan out of the party, at its crucial National Council meeting on Saturday.

Dissident-AAP-leaders-Prashant-Bhushan-and-Yogendra-Yadav-during-a-press-conference-in-New-Delhi-on-Friday-Arvind-Yadav-HT-Photo

Kejriwal’s camp has planned to move a resolution to remove the two. “We will produce evidence including emails against Yadav and Bhushan,” said an AAP leader.

Karawal Nagar MLA Kapil Mishra said he has asked Kejriwal to move a proposal to remove the dissenting leaders from the party. “Enough is enough. Yadav and Bhushan are working against AAP. National Council should bring a resolution to sack them from the party,” Mishra said.

This may not be easy though. Sources say while Kejriwal remains the party’s undisputed leader, voting on key issues at Saturday’s meeting may throw up some surprises. While 72 members of the National Council are from Delhi where the Kejriwal camp is strongest, the remaining 248 are from other states where Yadav has a robust support base.

“It’s true Kejriwal has not been much in contact with volunteers outside Delhi, while Yadav is perceived to have good support in states. But make no mistake Kejriwal is the undisputed leader and sole face of the party,” said an AAP leader.

Mounting pressure from volunteers outside Delhi has already forced the AAP to go national. Yadav had been advocating a larger play for AAP and that pitted him against the chief minister and his loyalists in Delhi.

People on behalf of both camps on Friday were busy making calls, writing emails and sending text messages to NC members for support.

Bhushan and Yadav have demanded videographing of the meeting, secret ballot in case of voting and a neutral person to conduct the proceedings.

“Hopes have been shattered, trust has been broken, but AAP is the only party in the country to be raising issues of transparency. This is a struggle to save the soul of this party. These are not my or Prashant’s issues,” Yadav said at a press conference.

"Tomorrow (Saturday) the National Council will meet. Who leads the party is not an issue, we never raised it. The biggest issue is whether AAP will become any other political party," he said. "A party that believes in Google hangouts should allow its National Council meet to be webcast," said senior AAP leader Anand Kumar, considered close to the Yadav-Bhushan camp.