Looking to make a new start, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal sealed the rift with senior party leader Yogendra Yadav on Sunday and announced a complete overhaul of the party.
Offering an olive branch, Kejriwal said he was human and “may have made mistakes” and Yadav, “like an elder brother” had a right to point them out. “Yogendra Bhai… has a right to scold me or slap me and I take his comments very seriously,” Kejriwal said at the end of the party’s three-day national executive meeting.
The Kejriwal-Yadav rift had come into focus after a ‘letter war’ between Yadav and Kejriwal’s close confidant Manish Sisodia had come out in the open. After resigning, Yadav, in a letter to his supporters, said the party was falling prey to “personality cult disease”. Sisodia had shot back questioning Yadav’s motive.
Reiterating that all differences within the party had been sorted, Kejriwal said the AAP would now embark on restructuring from the bottom up through ‘mission Vistaar (expansion)’ that will include reconstituting all committees from the “booth to national” level.
Giving details, Kejriwal said the AAP would be overhauled within one year. “About one and half years ago the party had formed more than 300 district committees and eight state panels. Since then a number of new people have joined the party. So now its time to reconstitute the committees that will have new and old members,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Giving details, Kejriwal said the AAP would be overhauled within one year. “About one and half years ago the party had formed more than 300 district committees and eight state panels. Since then a number of new people have joined the party. So now its time to reconstitute the committees that will have new and old members,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Following the restructuring, the party will elect a new national executive that will in turn elect a new political affairs committee, the top decision-making body.
The blueprint for the reboot is being prepared by a panel headed by national executive member Prithvi Reddy and will include Anand Kumar, Ashutosh, Anjali Damania, Atishi Marlena, Pankaj Gupta, Sanjay Singh, among others.