
Three of the four Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs from Punjab have risen in revolt against party chief Arvind Kejriwal in a clear signal that the unconventional party is staring at another split.

Patiala MP Dr Dharamvir Gandhi on Friday hit out at Kejriwal, terming him a “dictator” and saying AAP was no different from Mayawati’s and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s parties.

In an interview to India Today TV, Gandhi said the party had forgotten the ideals with which it was set up. The three MPs – Gandhi (Patiala), Harinder Singh Khalsa (Fatehgarh) and Prof Sadhu Singh (Faridkot) — have also demanded that expelled leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan be brought back to the party fold.

The latest rift could deal a severe blow to AAP’s poll prospects in Punjab, where it is eyeing power in the 2017 elections after a great performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls

Notably, the three MPs are known to have cordial relations with Yadav. Sangrur MP Bhagwant Singh Mann, who is considered close to Kejriwal, could not be reached for comments.

However, sources indicated he also might lend support to the dissidents.

“Kejriwal is behaving like a dictator. AAP has completely forgotten the ideals with which it was set up. Dissent is not being allowed in any form…and dissenters are being persecuted,” Gandhi told the channel.

Equating AAP to SP and BSP, he added: “AAP is now no different from Mayawati’s and Mulayam’s party. Kejriwal is trying to lord over the party from Delhi like a viceroy.”

Criticising AAP’s Punjab unit leadership, Gandhi said “people of dubious character” had flooded the party but there was no action against them.

Though he ruled out resigning from AAP, sources hinted that the dissenters could float a new party involving Yadav and Bhushan.

“There’s no question of quitting even if there are differences with Kejriwal. Why should I quit? I have been elected by the people of my constituency,” Gandhi maintained.

Party chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, however, denied any revolt in AAP’s Punjab unit.

On Gandhi’s charge against AAP’s high command culture, Kejriwal said the MP was a “good friend” of Yadav.

The opponents seized the opportunity to attack Kejriwal, saying “dictatorship” was his trademark.

Yadav led a scathing attack on the party, saying it did not understand the value of its own people: “I am not surprised. This is an inevitable consequence of running a party from Dilli durbar. The party does not understand that leaders like Dr Dharamvir Gandhi and Daljit Singh don’t owe their existence to AAP or Kejriwal. History proves that Punjabis have never tolerated remote controlling from Delhi, be it the Mughals or Indira Gandhi.”

The BJP also took a dig at Kejriwal, saying AAP did not understand the meaning of ‘democracy’.

“Kejriwal and AAP are undemocratic. The experience from their rule in Delhi suggests that they are anarchic by nature and believe only in violations,” said Vijender Gupta, senior BJP leader and the Opposition leader in Delhi Assembly.

The latest rift could deal a severe blow to AAP’s poll prospects in Punjab, where it is eyeing power in the 2017 elections after a great performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The four party MPs had garnered nearly 25 per cent of the total votes in the last general elections.

The difference of opinion in the Punjab unit was evident following the expulsion of Yadav and Bhushan from the party. But the dissidence flared up after Kejriwal restructured the state unit on July 4.

The leaders openly opposed the appointment of state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur,13 observers and coordinators since the local leaders were not involved in the decision-making process.

Punjab’s AAP disciplinary committee chairperson, Dr Daljit Singh, was himself expelled on Thursday after his outburst against party leader Sanjay Singh, who is AAP’s state in-charge.

He had earlier expelled several leaders with “dubious reputation”, only to see them reinstated by Chhotepur.

Fatehgarh MP Harinder Singh Khalsa had also shot off an email to Kejriwal, alleging that Sanjay Singh had inducted several “dubious” leaders into the party.

“I think they are out to destroy the spirit of the party. What about the respect for the party’s constitution? Is Sanjay Singh bigger than the state executive?

And what is the party; is it only Sanjay Singh? I am afraid there is a move to cause disintegration or at least take the spirit out of the party.

We will certainly not sit back and let the rotten stuff come to the fore. We will not let the people of Punjab be fooled and betrayed by a handful of nonentities,” Khalsa wrote.