AAP had downplayed Bhushan's comments

Arvind Kejriwal and I Have Our Differences: Prashant Bhushan

12 February 2015 at 16:46

AAP National Executive member, Prashant Bhushan. (Photo: Reuters)

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Shaswati Das

Prashant Bhushan, the outspoken founder member of the Aam Aadmi Party has admitted to The Quint that he has differences with Arvind Kejriwal. 

In a brief telephone interview Bhushan said, “Arvind Kejriwal and I have our differences. I do not want to comment on it or speak to the media any further on this matter.’

A few weeks ago in January, Bhushan, who is a member of the AAP’s National Executive, had lashed out against Kejriwal for choosing pragmatism over principle in picking candidates. Bhushan said the AAP gave tickets only to those who had amassed wealth through questionable means.

He had then said, “there were a lot of complaints about the kind of candidates selected, especially those who had been para-dropped into the party recently. Some of them were referred to the party Lokpal, who recommended the removal of two candidates.”

The AAP had downplayed Bhushan's comments by stating that all candidates had been cleared by the party Lokpal.

Nevertheless, it is clear that the faultlines in the relationship between Bhushan and Kejriwal have widened over the last few months.

Yet Bhushan is not the first person to have had differences with Kejriwal. His father, a fellow AAP founder, Shanti Bhushan who had mentored the AAP leadership, publicly slammed Kejriwal’s leadership and organizational skills.

Shanti Bhushan said that the AAP chief, though a great strategist, does not have the skills to expand the outfit.

“He does not have the kind of competence which can spread the message of the party all over India, which can quickly create elected structures of the party,” he had said.

Arvind Kejriwal and his Council of Minister will now take the oath of office on February 14. While Prashant Bhushan will not be sworn in as he did not contest the elections, will he get one of the three Rajya Sabha seats for Delhi? Neither Bhushan nor Kejriwal it seems can answer that question for the moment.