Rebel AAP MLA Devendra Sehrawat has shot off another letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he will be held “responsible” if 21 MLAs appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries lose their Assembly membership in the wake of a Delhi High Court order.
The fresh salvo from Sehrawat came as internal bickering intensified in the party which is grappling with charges of sleaze and misconduct by its leaders.
Sehrawat alleged that Kejriwal, despite being “well aware” of Supreme Court order whereby appointments of Sonia Gandhi and Jaya Bachchan were held illegal, appointed them as Parliamentary Secretaries on the “advice” of “advisors around him like Ashish Talwar” who have “no knowledge” of such things.
The Bijwasan MLA, who has fallen out of senior party leaders, attacked the Aam Aadmi Chief and his “coterie” after the party’s Punjab AAP unit filed criminal defamation cases against him for accusing the state leaders of exploiting women in return for tickets.
The High Court in its order on 8 August had termed the appointments of 21 legislators as Parliamentary Secretaries by the AAP government illegal as it was not sanctioned by the Lt Governor of Delhi.
“The present situation is that these 21 MLAs are facing danger of losing their (Assembly) membership and now it is your responsibility as you have not only poised them to face elections again but have also burdened people of Delhi with (possible) re-election,” Sehrawat wrote in his letter.
He also complained that his various letters to Kejriwal in the past, including one on “exploitation of women”, had reamined unanswered.
Sehrawat also targeted AAP leader Ashish Khetan, who heads Delhi Dialogue Commission, and demanded that Kejriwal scrap the body with “immediate effect” as it was a “white elephant”.
“Delhi Dialogue Commission had suspicious role in the proposal for Shuttle Bus Service… The Commission is being known as Delhi Dalal Commission,” he wrote in his letter.
AAP’s Punjab affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh and National Organisation Building Secretary Durgesh Pathak filed defamation cases against Sehrawat and two other leaders HS Kingra and Paviter Singh, in a court in Chandigarh yesterday.
Meanwhile, in a show of strength, a mahapanchayat was held in Najafgarh supporting Sehrawat.
Jat Samaj Najafgarh organised the mahapanchayat of around 36 communities of rural Delhi in support of Sehrawat, who represents the Bijwasan constituency.
“People present in the gathering expressed strong disappointment with the party and said they were solidly behind me. They also highlighted the failures of AAP government in developing rural Delhi,” Sehrawat said.