The Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal hasn’t spoken anything about the party’s candidates all these days. But Mr. Kejriwal did send a message – said to be targeted at Kumar Vishwas – when he re-tweeted a 27-second video clip from an old interview. It appears that The Aam Aadmi Party is split over Rajya Sabha nominations. An AAP leader has said that a section of the party is suggesting that it should nominate outsiders to the Upper House.
Rajya Sabha elections on three seats from Delhi would be held on January 16. The AAP holds a brute majority in the 70-member Delhi Assembly and it is all set to win all the three seats. A group of AAP leaders has emphasized that people from the fields of economics, social work and law should be sent to the Upper House. This would certainly help the party leadership deal with the internal rift over the three Rajya Sabha seats.
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan was approached by the party in this regard but he did not agree to it. There were some reports that the party also talked to former Chief Justice of India TS Thakur who also declined the offer.
Many in the AAP itself are of the view that it is a tactic to counter nomination of senior leader Kumar Vishwas who is a strong contender for a Rajya Sabha seat. However, the party leader said that his nomination is not much likely given the uneasy equation he has with some senior AAP leaders. The current rift in the party could widen if other leaders are given preference over Mr. Vishwas who has the support of several MLAs and volunteers within the party. Another section of the AAP is in full support of sending senior party leaders to the Rajya Sabha.
The supporters of Mr. Vishwas pitched tents in the party office on Thursday demanding that leaders who were dedicated during the anti-corruption movement should be sent to the Upper House. Names of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s close confidant Mr. Ashutosh and a senior party leader Sanjay Singh are doing the rounds. However, Mr. Kejriwal has been keeping the cards close to his chest.
Another AAP leader said that as many leaders who are in the core decision-making body of the party are themselves in the race so it is Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia who will have the final say on the nominations.
The last date to file nominations for the three seats in Rajya Sabha is January 5. Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh, 45, will be the party’s nominee for one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from next month but the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP will make a formal announcement next week when it firms up names for the other two seats.
Kumar Vishwas is a famous poet-politician, who in an interview with NDTV in October told that he could not be faulted for wanting to be in the Upper House as the party’s voice. In the Rajya Sabha, Kumar Vishwas had promised, he would be an articulate strong voice against the Congress and the ruling BJP.
