The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday, suspended former legislator Rajesh Garg from the party pending an inquiry against him for indulging in “anti-party activity”. Garg, a former MLA from Rohini, was embroiled in the controversy surrounding an audio recording of a conversation between him and a man who claimed to be Arvind Kejriwal.
Meanwhile, Garg served a legal notice to senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas for calling him a black-mailer and an opportunist. According to party sources, “The suspension of Garg is an administrative decision taken by the state leadership. We’ve taken suo moto cognizance of his statements to the media and there is a strong reason to believe that he leaked the recording to TV channels to defame AAP. He remains suspended from the primary membership of the party until the inquiry by the state disciplinary committee is completed.”
Party spokesperson Dilip Pandey officially announced his suspension on Monday afternoon. The recording and Garg’s subsequent statements to the media had led to senior leader Anjali Damania’s resignation from AAP. While the party questioned the authenticity of the audio clip, spokesperson Ashish Khetan had acknowledged that there have been attempts at what he called political alignment with another party in the past.
The decision also comes following the legal notice sent to Vishwas. It was not the first time that the former Rohini MLA was on the wrong side of the party leadership. In October 2014, he had questioned Kejriwal about the internal party democracy and also on whether or not he should have consulted people on conducting fresh polls in Delhi. Garg said that he had emailed the recording of the conversation to Kumar Vishwas.
Garg is the second former AAP MLA to have faced disciplinary action by the party after Vinod Kumar Binny.
Meanwhile, Garg served a legal notice to senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas for calling him a black-mailer and an opportunist. According to party sources, “The suspension of Garg is an administrative decision taken by the state leadership. We’ve taken suo moto cognizance of his statements to the media and there is a strong reason to believe that he leaked the recording to TV channels to defame AAP. He remains suspended from the primary membership of the party until the inquiry by the state disciplinary committee is completed.”
Party spokesperson Dilip Pandey officially announced his suspension on Monday afternoon. The recording and Garg’s subsequent statements to the media had led to senior leader Anjali Damania’s resignation from AAP. While the party questioned the authenticity of the audio clip, spokesperson Ashish Khetan had acknowledged that there have been attempts at what he called political alignment with another party in the past.
The decision also comes following the legal notice sent to Vishwas. It was not the first time that the former Rohini MLA was on the wrong side of the party leadership. In October 2014, he had questioned Kejriwal about the internal party democracy and also on whether or not he should have consulted people on conducting fresh polls in Delhi. Garg said that he had emailed the recording of the conversation to Kumar Vishwas.
Garg is the second former AAP MLA to have faced disciplinary action by the party after Vinod Kumar Binny.