Rift in Aam Aadmi Party;Formed rebel clone, BAAP.

published on September 10, 2013

Barely a year after its formation, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is witnessing competition within, from a splinter group dubbed the Bhartiya Aam Aadmi Parivar or BAAP.

A group of AAP members, disgruntled with ticket distribution ahead of the Assembly elections and protesting against a “lack of transparency” formed BAAP on Sunday to “improve the AAP from the outside”.

BAAP’s President Rajnish clarified that it was not a rebel party. “Several members of the AAP were unhappy with certain procedures in the party and also realised its limitations. So we formed this parivar, which is a social front,” Rajnish said. He said they would not work at odds with AAP, but would indirectly help improve its functioning and ensure greater transparency.

According to Rajnish, a certain section of society could not directly associate with a political party. “There are several people who want to help, particularly government servants, but cannot because of the code of conduct. They can instead join BAAP, which is only a social front, and help the party,” Rajnish said.

He added that at least 50 AAP members attended their rally on Sunday and BAAP had more than 20 members for now.

However, others in the BAAP, adopted a tougher stance. A BAAP member, who was denied a ticket from Aam Aadmi Party, said, “The ticket distribution system is flawed. In some cases, senior members of the AAP were blindly given tickets. The parivar is a form of protest against such procedures within the AAP.”

Meanwhile, the Arvind Kejriwal-led organisation deputed social scientist Yogendra Yadav to open a dialogue with BAAP.

AAP spokesperson Manish Sisodia, who admitted that disgruntled AAP members were part of the BAAP, said, “(Yogendra) Yadav has spoken to members of the BAAP to understand their point of view. We are not against them an will continue to talk.” He said if their intention was to help and improve the AAP, the BAAP was more than welcome to do so.

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