After announcing the candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, AAP’s list of troubles squandered over the resident of Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. On Friday, the mother of former AAP member Santosh Koli, and her supporters stormed Kejriwal’s residence and demanded that she should be given the Rajya Sabha ticket. Santosh Koli died in an accident in 2013. She also asked for support from party MLAs from outside the house. However, she and her supporters were later detained by police, without getting to meet the CM.
Aam Aadmi Party had listed out Sanjay Singh, Navin Gupta and Sushil Gupta to contest in the Rajya Sabha elections. The decision was condemned by senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas.
However, it should be noted that the idea to nominate her was first floated by suspended AAP member and former minister Kapil Mishra. Mishra said that she had the support of Shalimar Bagh MLA Bandana Kumari. However, Mishra later said that Kumari was pressured by the party leadership to withdraw her support.
But Bandana Kumari dismissed the claims made by Kapil Mishra and said she was an AAP member and supported the party’s picks. Kumari took to Twitter and wrote, “Main party ke saath hoon aur party ka faisla mera faisla hai. Party ke baaghi log apni zubaan pe kaabu rakhein (I am with the party and its decision is my decision. Rebel party members should keep their words in check).”
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said that Mishra was using Koli for his agenda. Bhardwaj said, “Koli’s mother is a poor woman who is used by Kapil. If Kapil wants her to be a representative, why doesn’t he resign from the party? We will give her a ticket from his constituency Karawal Nagar.”
In the meantime, Gopal Rai said that Kumar Vishwas tried to “break the party” after the losses in Punjab assembly polls and the MCD elections. The senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas has hit back at Rai denying the allegations. Vishwas said, “Rai has woken up from his ‘Kumbhakarni’ slumber after seven months. Even the party has disowned his allegations. Actually, the Sivagami Devi of this ‘Mahishmati’ (AAP) is someone else,” he said. Vishwas was referring to the character of Sivagami Devi in the popular film Baahubali.
Vishwas also said he had campaigned for Rai in Babbarpur before the 2015 assembly elections. “He can now take the help of Sushil Gupta for campaigning,” he said. “With Gupta’s help, Rai can become the Prime Minister. In fact, Kim Jong-un has been troubling everyone. Rai can even become the UN secretary-general.”
