Shanti Bhushan Shanti Bhushan

Continuing with his attacks on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan on Thursday demanded his resignation as the party convener. "Kejriwal has gone astray. Kiran Bedi for me remains the best choice for Delhi CM," the 89-year-old co-founder of the AAP told Headlines Today in an exclusive interview.

"Arvind only wants winnability. He must step down as AAP convener because the idea of AAP is bigger than Kejriwal," Bhushan told managing editor, TV Today Network, Rahul Kanwal. In words that echoed Shazia Ilmi's accusations before she quit AAP last year, he further said, "Arvind has bulit a personality cult around himself which is harming the party."

The senior Bhushan even claimed that his son and AAP leader Prashant Bhushan also agrees with his stand in private, but is gagged from admitting it in public because of the ongoing elections. "The AAP national executive will meet after February 10 to elect a new convener," Bhushan said, adding that he will call the meeting himself.

Delhi will vote on February 7 and the votes will be counted on February 10.

Shanti Bhushan, a former Union minister and now the biggest donor to AAP, again made his choice for Kiran Bedi clear. "Bedi is the best choice for the chief minister in Delhi. Her track record says she will give a good government."

In further rebuke to party chief Kejriwal, Bhushan said, "For me, Ajay Maken of the Congress comes second. But it is difficult to imagine Congress without corruption." He had only a small concession for Kejriwal. "Arvind also has a track record against corruption. As a CM, I can rely on him."

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal had dismissed Bhushan's preference for Kiran Bedi in Delhi. "It's a democracy and everybody has a right to express his feelings," he told reporters.

"BJP recognised the force of Anna's movement and was forced to bring as CM candidate a crusader against corruption. Kiranji made a huge contribution to India Against Corruption. She would provide a very clean and efficient administration. She is definitely the biggest challenge to Kejriwal," Bhushan had told another TV channel, adding that Bedi's candidature was the BJP's "masterstroke" and it "could be harmful for Kejriwal".

When asked if Bhushan should have refrained from making such a remark in the middle of an election, Kejriwal said, "This is something he should have thought about. What do I say? We will put facts before him to change his mind."

Kiran Bedi, on her part, welcomed the remarks from a rival camp. "If he has said so, I can only be thankful to him," she said. "He has been part of that team. Such a statement coming from him only strengthens the thought process of the BJP," party MP Manoj Tiwari, who had called Bedi a thanedaar earlier, said.

His open preference for Bedi as Delhi's chief minister in the middle of a bitter campaign sparked a sharp reaction from other AAP leaders. "I can't understand how Shantiji can possibly approve of Kiran Bedi joining a party that he calls communal even today," Yogendra Yadav said.

"He is our senior colleague and like a father figure in the party. It is the duty of such figures to avoid getting into a fight between his children," Yadav added. Prashant Bhushan also had distanced himself from his father's remarks. "I differ with my father on this," Prashant told ANI.