Kejriwal tries to quell speculation of rift with Kumar Vishwas

Kumar Vishwas is my younger brother and nobody can separate us, he said.

New Delhi, Apr 30: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday sought to quell speculation of a rift between him and Kumar Vishwas, days after the senior party leader differed with him over EVM tampering as the reason behind the AAP's recent poll defeats.

Party chief Kejriwal also warned party leaders against trying to create a divide between him and his "younger brother" Vishwas, after AAP's Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan alleged earlier today that Vishwas was trying to "usurp" the AAP and that he harbours ambitions of leading the party.

On Friday, contrary to the party line that EVM rigging was behind AAP's loss in the Punjab Assembly and MCD polls, Vishwas had pointed to reasons other than alleged tampering of electronic voting machines and said there is a communication gap between the top brass and volunteers. He also said AAP was getting "Congressised" to an extent.

The AAP bagged only 20 seats in the Punjab polls, much below its expectations, and suffered a humiliating in the MCD polls, its home turf. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Labour Minister Gopal Rai alleged rigging of EVMs was to blame for the party's poor electoral show in Punjab and Delhi. Khan, a member of the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC), Aam Aadmi Party's apex decision-making body, also claimed that poet-turned-politician Vishwas has been calling MLAs to his residence and coaxing them to rebel against Kejriwal or to join the BJP.

"Kumar Vishwas is trying to usurp the AAP and break the AAP. He is calling MLAs to his residence and saying that he should be made the party convener. Or else, they (MLAs) can join the BJP which is ready to pay Rs 30 crore to each MLA. "This is what (Swaraj India President and expelled AAP leader) Yogendra Yadav also wants. I think this is happening at the behest of the BJP. It has deployed four MLAs to take AAP legislators to Kumar Vishwas' house.

This has been confirmed to me by at least 10 party MLAs," Khan said in a message circulated to the media. "Yesterday, a minister also convened a meeting of four MLAs," he added. When contacted Khan did not elaborate on the message and said he will "spill the beans" at an appropriate time.

The message, however, did not go down well with Kejriwal who said some people were trying to create a rift between him and Vishwas. "Kumar is my younger brother. Some people are trying to create a rift between us. Such people are enemies of the party. They better mend their ways. No one can separate us," Kejriwal tweeted.

PTI