'I am shocked': Bihar AAP cadre unhappy with Nitish tie-up

The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) prominent face and former Janata Dal (United) minister, Parween Amanullah, is unhappy with the party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s growing bonhomie with chief minister Nitish Kumar ahead of the assembly polls.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) prominent face and former Janata Dal (United) minister, Parween Amanullah, is unhappy with the party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s growing bonhomie with chief minister Nitish Kumar ahead of the assembly polls.

Amanullah had joined JD(U) before the 2010 assembly elections and quit three years later because of alleged corruption and a stifling party environment. As head of AAP’s Bihar unit now, she is uncomfortable with the friendship between the two leaders.

The dissent may trigger another split in the party that has already witnessed a three-way division. “I am shocked and have no words to express that such an arrangement has been worked out between AAP and JD(U). We will lose our identity in the state,” she said.

Kejriwal has agreed to campaign for the anti-BJP alliance headed by Kumar. He is expected to attend a function with the CM in Patna on August 27.

AAP central leaders have said party volunteers would be asked to campaign for the JD(U), which has not gone down well with the cadre. “We were not consulted at all by our central leadership on joining hands with the JD(U),” Amanullah said.