Arvind Kejriwal says no rift with Kumar Vishwas

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan alleged that Kumar Vishwas was conspiring to break the party and had asked some legislators to join the BJP.

New Delhi, April 30: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday denied any rift with senior leader Kumar Vishwas after an AAP MLA accused the latter of trying to break the party at the BJP's behest.

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan alleged that Kumar Vishwas was conspiring to break the party and had asked some legislators to join the BJP with an offer of Rs 30 crore each.

This prompted Kejriwal to say that attempts were being made to create a rift between him and Kumar Vishwas, one of the founders of the AAP and a long-time friend of both Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia.

Khan circulated a WhatsApp message saying Kumar Vishwas had called some AAP MLAs to his home with the monetary offer at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"Kumar Vishwas called some MLAS and asked them that he should be made the party convenor," said the legislator from Okhla in south Delhi.

Kumar Vishwas gave them the second offer "to join the BJP which was ready to pay Rs 30 crore to each one of them.

"I think all this is being done at the behest of the BJP," Khan said, adding four AAP MLAs had been tasked with arranging meetings of the party legislators with Kumar Vishwas.

The four MLAs also held a meeting with an unnamed minister, Khan said, citing 10 unnamed MLAs who "revealed this to me".

But Kejriwal tweeted that Kumar Vishwas was like "my younger brother".

"Some people are trying to show that there is a gulf between us. These people are enemies of the party. They should mend their ways. Nobody can separate us."

Khan confirmed to IANS that he had circulated the message because "Kumar Vishwas wants to usurp and break the AAP".

In a TV interview on Friday, Kumar Vishwas said the party won't hesitate in taking a call on change in its leadership after its poor show in Delhi municipal polls. The AAP finished much behind the BJP in all three wings of the municipal corporation. The Congress finished at the bottom of the heap.

He said blaming the EVMs entirely for its poll defeats was wrong as there was mistrust among people vis-a-vis the party.

IANS