AAP rebels in touch with Congress?

Aam Admi Party  boss  and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal may  not have so far accepted the resignation of two senior party leaders —Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan —but  speculation is abound that the two rebel leaders are not ready to go back to the party and are looking at other alternatives.

AAP watchers are not surprised  by the stand taken by these two leaders after they were overlooked for the Rajya Sabha tickets. After all, they were  the two most familiar faces of the party and played key role in shaping up  its media strategy and outreach. Obviously, AAP leadership did not realise that Ashutosh and Khetan, who were so emotionally involved with AAP movement, could go to the extent of quitting the party over RS nominations.  

The writing seem clear on the wall after Ashutosh wrote a column in which he praised Congress president Rahul Gandhi.  With the Congress chief not ready to even talk with Kejriwal, Ashutosh's praise of Rahul should have alerted the AAP leadership.   Sources say that while it will be too early to say that Ashutosh is going to join the Congress, his options are limited. Congress sources say that  some party leaders are informally in touch with Ashutosh but so far nothing has been finalised.

“ The Congress is the only option for someone like Ashutosh since he has been consistent in his criticism of the BJP,” said a Congress leader. “ We are in touch with him,.”

Khetan has been the AAP’s TV face for a long time.  A former journalist and law degree-holder,   when he quit the post of  Vice-Chairman of the Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) in April, it was obvious that he was not happy with the party. Three  days ago, Khetan quit the party and is believed to be inching closer to the Congress.  Khetan is now reportedly   associated with a law firm of  senior Congress leader’s son.