File Photo: Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan at a press conference in New Delhi. (Press Trust of India)
In a veiled threat to party workers, the Aam Aadmi Party has said that attending the April 14 meeting convened by dissident leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan will be considered "indiscipline".
"We don't know what is happening on April 14. Not warned either. But we may consider it indiscipline if any office-bearer goes for any such event," Adarsh Shastri, parliamentary secretary to Delhi's Information Technology Minister and a law-maker from Dwarka, said on Friday.
Mr Shashtri is in the 20-member panel of the newly-appointed spokespersons of the party. His statement assumes importance as dissident AAP leader Anand Kumar had on Friday accused the party leadership of threatening members, who are willing to attend the April 14 meeting, of "disciplinary" action.
Mr Yadav and Mr Bhushan, who were expelled from the party's National Executive along with Mr Kumar and Ajit Jha on March 28, have convened a meeting of their supporters on April 14 to chart the future course of action, amid speculations that they may a float a new political party.
Referring to the meeting as "Swaraj Samvad", Mr Kumar said, "It has been told by a newly-appointed spokesperson of my party that anyone attending the Swaraj Samvad will be subjected to disciplinary action by AAP leader... please avoid being dictatorial and trust the mind power and force of truth."
He urged "all concerned partymen" to join each other in this hour of self-interrogation and course correction.
"It will answer two questions - What is going wrong? What is to be done next for Swaraj? It needs all three form of support - Tan (physical presence), Man (ideas and proposals) and Dhan (donation)," he said.