NEW DELHI: AAP founder-member and eminent Supreme Court lawyer Shanti Bhushan on Wednesday attacked Delhi CM-designate Arvind Kerjiwal for “abandoning principles of inner-party democracy” and “accepting tainted money”.
The octogenarian, who had supported Kerjiwal ever since the Jan Lokpal agitation, said the AAP gave a large number of tickets to people who were prepared to buy votes by distributing money and liquor.
Bhushan’s attack on the AAP chief, second one in a fortnight, is significant as his son and party leader Prashant Bhushan was not seen anywhere on Tuesday while the party was celebrating its massive win in the Delhi elections.
The fallout seems to have happened over restructuring of party and coterie of people surrounding the AAP convener.
“He (Kejriwal) gave a large number of tickets to people, who had amassed a lot of wealth by questionable means and were prepared to buy votes by distributing money and liquor. He also accepted tainted money and abandoned all principles of inner-party democracy,” Bhushan said in a blog, adding that he was unhappy with the AAP’s sweep in Delhi as the people did not apply their mind. Advising Kejriwal to avoid making tainted MLAs as ministers, Bhushan said that there are 15-20 shady MLAs in the AAP camp. “It is important for the party to apply course correction and come back to the path of clean politics, which people believe it continues to stand for. He must be regretting his decision to field those candidates under the belief that people like them could win elections,” he said, adding that he distanced from the AAP for this very reason.
According to Bhushan, the AAP won because the people wanted to defeat the BJP and the Congress intentionally shifted its vote base to the AAP. He said the big challenge before the party is to fulfil its promises -- installing 10 lakh CCTV cameras, employment for all, slashing VAT and housing for all living in slums.