Dinner diplomacy to unite flock

New Delhi: Hit by a spate of setbacks and with the murmurs of fissures within the party, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal hosted a dinner for all AAP MLAs and their families on Tuesday night. Kumar Vishwas, who had a run down with Mr Kejriwal recently, skipped the dinner hosted by the CM.

Party legislators, however, termed the dinner as a usual get together hosted by the chief minister, but said it also sought to send a message that the leadership is keen on having close contact with all MLAs.

The MLAs are also believed to have pledged their support to Mr Kejriwal, especially after sacked minister Kapil Mishra alleged that health minister Satyendar Jain gave Rs 2 crore to the chief minister.

Kasturba Nagar MLA Mandanlal said the programme went off well as the chief minister interacted with his party legislators and their families.

“The dinner was for AAP MLAs and their families. Everyone missed KV (Kumar Vishwas), SS (Sanjay Singh), RC (Raghav Chadha), DP (Dilip Pandey),” MLA Alka Lamba tweeted.

Some MLAs like Bhavana Gaur and Saurabh Bharadwaj were not present as they are out of Delhi while Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha is on an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar. Mr Kejriwal had previously hosted a similar dinner programme for AAP MLAs and their families, in a bid to “strengthen” the bond between the party MLAs and the leadership.