Denial of ticket for Rajya Sabha behind turmoil in AAP?

New Delhi: Journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh’s resignation from the AAP has yet again brought to the fore the serious differences that the party leadership had been facing ever since several of its founding members were sidelined by party chief and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Mr Ashutosh was reportedly upset ever since the party leadership decided not to nominate him for the Rajya Sabha membership.

Sources close to the leader said that it was not a sudden decision by Mr Ashutosh. “It was a long thought decision,” a source said. The 53-year-old leader had taken a sabbatical from the party for the past three months as he was abroad. He had told the party that he needed some time off to write a book, sources said.

Speculations are also rife in the political circles that Ashutosh is in talks with the Congress for sometime now. However, with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal rejecting Mr Ashutosh’s resignation, it seems likely that the party leadership is keen on holding talks with him.

Another senior leader, Kumar Vishwas, too was sidelined by the AAP and was not offered a ticket to Rajya Sabha in January. Mr Vishwas, who was angling for an Rajya Sabha slot, had said that it was difficult to survive in the party if one disagreed with Mr Kejriwal. Taking a jibe at Mr Kejriwal on the development, Mr Vishwas congratulated the CM for one more “sacrifice.”

Mr Vishwas, who has had frequent run-ins with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, was also removed as the as the AAP’s in-charge for the Rajasthan Assembly elections, and appointed its national treasurer Deepak Bajpai as his replacement.

Another leader, Ashish Khetan, who had stepped down as the vice-chairman of the Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) in April this year, is also said to be in talks with the grand old party. Mr Khetan had made public his decision to resign on social media and said that he was going to “join the legal profession”. He said he submitted his resignation on April 16.

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