Kejriwal re-elected AAP national convenor till November 2018
Kejriwal re-elected AAP national convenor till November 2018
Indicating that he senses a Delhi-like opportunity for the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, where the Assembly polls are due in 2017, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday suggested that his party’s focus was not on the next Lok Sabha elections even as his tenure as party supremo was extended.
In his address at the national council, which met for the first time after expulsion of AAP founding members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, he said his government has achieved more than what Sheila Dikshit’s dispensation did in 15 years and it has even outperformed the NDA regime at the Centre.
“We are not here for power politics. People ask if the AAP is in race for 2019 We are not in any race. Delhi’s win was miraculous. We just have to keep working hard and honestly. Don’t run after elections. All indications are that you are going to get the same opportunity in Punjab,” he said.
The AAP had won four seats in Punjab in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and was routed in other states, including in Delhi. According to a party leader, Mr Kejriwal said there has been a “rat race” for prime ministerial candidature in the next Lok Sabha polls and indicated AAP was not in that competition.
AAP’s national general secretary Pankaj Gupta said a unanimous decision was taken to extend the term of the current national council till November 23, 2018. The party will hold organisational elections by May 2016 to fill various posts at the state as well as at the national level. “Till that time, the national convenor, national executive and other functionaries will continue to function,” he said.
The national council, attended by 177 members out of 247, adopted four separate resolutions, including how the Centre was “undermining” the authority of non-NDA governments and the way people rejected the BJP’s “manufactured intolerance.”
“Since the advent of the present NDA government, the state governments are being undermined at the behest of the Central government. Instead of cooperative federalism, the country is witnessing selective targeting of non-NDA state governments through the offices of governors and lieutenant-governors,” one of the resolutions said.
It said that the AAP was determined to build public opinion and politically oppose the NDA government’s “totalitarian attitude” towards the non-NDA state governments. In another resolution, the party said the people had replaced the “most corrupt government in Indian history” with an alternative, but it has proved in the last 18 months “just as terrible.”
“The real agenda of the BJP is intolerance and the purpose is dividing society for political gains. This manufactured intolerance has been rejected by the people of India, first in Delhi and then in Bihar. But the BJP’s continued attempts to make it the centrepiece of its political strategy is a grave threat to the idea of India,” it said.
Asserting that the party’s main aim was to tackle corruption, Mr Kejriwal claimed his was the first government to sack a minister for involvement in graft.
“We had two aims in the beginning — tackling corruption and bringing Janlokpal and Swaraj. In the last 10 months, we have worked so hard, I can challenge, Sheila (Dikshit) government did not do in 15 years. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi had the entire nation at his disposal, even he did not do.”
“Let’s talk about corruption first. There is no such instance in the past that a government sacked its own Minister found involved in corruption. We see how governments keep brushing corruption cases under the carpet, especially against their Ministers. But in the case of our govt, nobody knew about it. Someone had sent a clip on WhatsApp. We saw it and felt that the Minister was involved. We analysed it and summoned the Minister and confronted him. He confessed and we sacked him in a press conference in an hour,” he said.
Assuring that the Janlokpal bill will be passed in the ongoing Winter Session of Delhi Assembly, Mr Kejriwal said, “Lokpal is also going to be passed in this session. It’s the same old bill minus citizen charter and vigilance. We have implemented the vigilance aspect. Citizen charter is being tabled today. So BJP and Congress have no issue to protest against.”
The Chief Minister also claimed “the party is implementing the idea of Swaraj through executive orders and not through legislation, because Centre would never clear it. Why should we give them an opportunity to implement Swaraj ”
Listing AAP government’s achievements, Mr Kejriwal said, “We completed a flyover before deadline. Metro also completed its project ahead of deadline. But what is different is, we saved Rs 100 crores on it. Manishbhai (Sisodia) is tabling a historic bill today. All services will be delivered in time bound manner. In case of default, officers will pay fine to you,” he said.
The National Council is the body of founding members of the party, while National Executive is the second highest decision-making body of the party. The Council ratifies all the decisions taken by the party. According to the party’s Constitution, the National Executive has to be reconstituted every three years. The tenure of the present members of the National Executive ends this month. The AAP was formed in November 26, 2012.
Founding members Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav, Ajit Jha and Anand Kumar, who were expelled in April this year, are to be replaced by new members.
