AAP rebels plan convention, floating new party among options - The Indian Express

In an interview to Newsline, Prashant Bhushan on Monday said, “We will have a convention where we will see what the majority feel, what consensus emerges.”

One faction of the Aam Aadmi Party, including Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan who were voted out of the National Executive in controversial circumstances on Saturday, will now hold a convention of their supporters and volunteers on April 14 to strategise on the way forward.

Sources said the meeting will largely choose between three possible strategies of either fighting from within the party itself, forming a new political party or creating a front which is non-political but raises several issues like land acquisition and forest rights.

In an interview to Newsline, Prashant Bhushan on Monday said, “We will have a convention where we will see what the majority feel, what consensus emerges.”

Sources said that the convention would likely see the attendance of many AAP members aggrieved by the events of Saturday’s National Council.

“There will be volunteers, National Council members and also members who are still in the National Executive. You will be surprised at some of the names that have expressed their willingness to participate. There are also some who didn’t want to be part of the AAP because of Arvind Kejriwal who might also attend,” he said.

Sources said that the convention would discuss strategies in the light of recent developments of the AAP. “We can either approach the courts and continue to fight within the party. Some volunteers are outraged and want to go this way, but most believe that this is a political battle, and not a legal one. Going to the courts is a long, bitter, negative and protracted battle which people may not want. However, the option of court is open to challenge the hooliganism in the National Council,” a leader said.

They said that the convention would discuss the option of forming a separate political party. “That is one of the options while the other is to form a front that fights on key issues. There are so many that the country suffers from like land acquisition, forest rights and so on. It is all a matter of discussion at this stage, but most believe that these are the two most viable options before us,” a leader said.