Kumar Vishwas attacks Kejriwal over Rajya Sabha nominations

Soon after the Aam Aadmi Party announced its Rajya Sabha nominees -- Sanjay Singh, Sushil Gupta and N D Gupta -- disgruntled AAP leader Kumar Vishwas attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying that he has been punished for speaking the truth.

Vishwas, who was angling for a Rajya Sabha slot, said that it is difficult to survive in the Aam Aadmi Party if one disagrees with Kejriwal.

The AAP leader’s comments came as the party nominated Sanjay Singh, Sushil Gupta and N D Gupta as its Rajya Sabha nominees.

While Singh has been associated with the party since its inception, Sushil Gupta is a Delhi-based businessman and N D Gupta a chartered accountant.

“In the last one-and-a-half year, I spoke the truth whether it is Arvind Kejriwal’s decisions or issues like surgical strike, irregularities in ticket distribution, softness towards extremists in Punjab, Jawaharlal Nehru University incident among others, for which I have been rewarded in the form of punishment for speaking the truth,” Vishwas told reporters.

“I think that it is a moral victory of a true revolutionary, poet and friend,” Vishwas told reporters.

Taking a dig at Kejriwal for nominating N D Gupta and Sushil Gupta to 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 also charged that around one-and-a-half year 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.”

“I want to congratulate (Kejriwal) that I have accepted my martyrdom,” AAP leader said.

Elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi would be held on January 16. The AAP, which enjoys a ‘brute’ majority in the 70-member Delhi assembly, is set to win all three seats.

The last date to file nominations for the three Rajya Sabha seats is January 5.

Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters