After Rajya Sabha snub, Vishwas declares war on CM

NEW DELHI: The rift in AAP widens as soon after the party announced its Rajya Sabha nominees, disgruntled AAP leader Kumar Vishwas on Wednesday attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying that he has been punished for speaking the truth.

"In the last one-and-a-half years, I spoke the truth, whether it is Arvind Kejriwal's decisions or issues like the surgical strike, irregularities in ticket distribution, softness towards extremists in Punjab, JNU incident, among others, and I have been rewarded in the form of punishment," said Vishwas.

Vishwas was speaking following Aam Aadmi Party's announcement of the three names for the Rajya Sabha seat. Among them are the prominent chartered accountant and former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India N D Gupta, businessman and social activist Sushil Gupta and party functionary Sanjay Singh.

Rajya Sabha elections are scheduled to take place on January 16.

The rift between the party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Vishwas deepened when in November last year his name did not found mention among the list of speakers at the high-level party meet.

Vishwas was also troubled over the top leaders' relationship with Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan.

Earlier, the party revoked the suspension of Khan, who, after AAP's debacle in the MCD elections, had accused Vishwas of being an "agent of the RSS" and trying to split the party. Rift also came in front when Kumar Vishwas was not chosen to campaign for Punjab elections.

A section of the leaders of the AAP asserted that if Vishwas leaves the party, a number of MLAs might also leave with him. A day before the announcement prominent people from social and political background also stood in the support of Vishwas.

Meanwhile, taking a dig at Kejriwal for nominating ND Gupta and Sushil Gupta to the Raya Sabha, Vishwas said that he wanted to congratulate AAP volunteers that their voice has been heard in choosing the "great revolutionaries".

The AAP leader alleged that around one-and-a-half years ago Kejriwal had, in a party's national executive meeting, said with a smile, "We will finish you, but we will not let you be a martyr".