AAP rift: Party falling prey to 'undemocratic behaviour', says Ramdas

New Delhi, Apr 14: Admiral L Ramdas, who was removed last month from the post of AAP's internal Lokpal, today came out strongly against the party's top leadership, saying it has "failed" to live up to its promise and has fallen prey to "undemocratic" behaviour.

Sharing his "sense of distress" through a statement read out at the convention organised by the party's rebel camp, Ramdas lamented that his "repeated" requests to the AAP brass to clarify the exact date on which the Lokpal's term ended have been stonewalled and met with "complete silence".

"Your Lokpal and four senior founding members of AAP found themselves ousted from their positions in the party... Such actions have seriously undermined the faith and hopes of millions of supporters across the country and abroad," the former navy chief said in his statement.

At the meet organised by AAP dissidents Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, Ramdas's letter also contained a disclaimer that he does not belong to any particular faction of the party and his message was intended for all, both "within and outside". He noted that infighting has dented the party's image and its founding principles.

He termed the current crisis within the party a "conflict of wills" in which there cannot be any winners and losers. "We have all failed to live up to those promises (founding principles) and allowed ourselves to fall prey to undemocratic behaviour, which needs no elaboration," he said.

"I do not think the concept of Swaraj ever envisaged the kind of actions, abuse and strong-arm tactics which many have witnessed in the recent events connected with our National Executive and National Council meetings," he said. Ramdas said the dialogue organised by the rebel camp cannot be construed to be an "anti-party activity" even as he listed three possible courses for the future.

"Decide to work towards creating a United AAP and take action accordingly, issue an honest apology... I too am ready to sign such an apology... If a parting seems inevitable, then we must have the grace and magnanimity to avoid recriminations in the future," he said. At an "emergency" National Executive meeting on March 29, the party had removed Ramdas as its internal Lokpal and set up a new Lokpal panel, comprising former IPS officers N Dilip Kumar and Rakesh Sinha, besides educationist SP Verma.

PTI