AAP's Arvind Kejriwal is likely to face direct question besides many other tough ones when Admiral (retd) L Ramdas, the party's internal Lokpal, meets him today evening.

What’s going on within the Aam Aadmi party? Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party's convenor, is likely to face this direct question besides many other tough ones when Admiral (retd) L Ramdas, the party's internal Lokpal, meets him today evening. The meeting is likely to force Kejriwal break his silence over the recent crisis that has been dominating the party in the recent past.

According to AAP sources, Admiral Ramdas, the former Chief of Naval Staff, will arrive in Delhi today to meet Kejriwal at 7 pm in the evening and ask him some tough questions over the standoff between the two warring groups within the party.

The Delhi chief minister has been steadfast in his silence over senior AAP leader Prashant Bhushan’s request for a meeting to put an end to the row that got escalated after Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were expelled from the party’s influential Political Affairs Committee (PAC).

"A meeting is scheduled between the CM and Admiral Ramdas in the evening," confirmed an AAP leader.

According to the sources, the ombudsman is expected to question Kejriwal on the outcome of the ongoing dialogue 'meant to bring truce between two warring camps – Arvind Kejriwal on one side and Prashant Bhushan-Yogendra Yadav duo on the other'.

"It's expected that the ombudsman will also ask about the National Executive’s decision to oust Bhushan and Yadav from the Political Affairs Committee and then compelling the duo to resign from the National Executive, besides resigning from the respective posts from disciplinary committee and as chief spokesperson," a source said.

Despite being the party's ombudsman, Ramdas had also faced criticism from a section within AAP. The leaders close to Kejriwal were of the opinion that Ramdas had overstepped his brief by shooting a letter to the National Executive.

A day ahead of the meeting of the AAP's National Executive on 26 February, Ramdas had written a scathing letter to the top decision-making body, expressing anguish over the growing divide and trust deficit between the senior leadership. The internal communiqué, which was eventually leaked to the media two days later, confirmed that there were several instances when the bickering threatened to split the AAP.



In the letter, he had raised issues like one-man, one-post (Kejriwal holds the post of CM and party’s convener), lack of internal democracy, breakdown in communication, etc. It was believed that his controversial letter acted as a catalyst to the public spat between Kejriwal and Bhushan-Yadav duo.

Questions were also being raised about the term of Ramdas as ombudsman.

However, the AAP had refuted any such rumour and later issued a statement that said, "The party holds Admiral Ramdas in high esteem and appreciates his role as an impartial Lokpal, who never interfered in the party's decision-making process nor did he ever make any attempt to take sides on any issue. The party out rightly rejects all frustrated attempts to drag the name of Ramdas into controversy, which is unfortunate and against all ethics."

Prof Anand Kumar, AAP’s National Executive member, who is trying to broker peace between the warring groups said, "If a meeting takes place between Kejriwal and Admiral Ramdas, it would help in knowing each others’ perception and stop escalating of confusion and misunderstanding. The ombudsman may also look into the allegations levelled against Bhushan and Yadav, which is in his purview, before taking any decision."