On a day when Aam Aadmi Party leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan mounted a scathing attack on him in New Delhi, party convenor Arvind Kejriwal reached out to the Tamil Nadu unit.
The Delhi Chief Minister on Friday requested the Tamil Nadu government to immediately release on bail 50 AAP workers who were arrested on March 21.
The AAP workers were arrested on charges of attempting to enter the residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the death of Agricultural Department engineer S. Muthukumarasamy.
To reinforce control
The AAP’s State unit, which has supporters of both Mr. Kejriwal and the Yadav-Bhushan duo, has been fighting for their release. Mr. Kejriwal’s response is an attempt to keep the unit under his control, party sources said. Already, Mr. Yadav and Mr. Bhushan had issued a statement demanding the release of their party workers, they point out.
On Friday, the AAP Tamil Nadu unit held a press conference here demanding the release of party workers. Later in the evening, Mr. Kerjiwal sent the press release through Anand Ganesh and M. Lenin of the unit, stating that the State government was evading the demand for a CBI enquiry into the mysterious death of the engineer.
Quoting media sources, Mr. Kejriwal said the deceased engineer was said to have been driven to commit suicide by Agriculture Minister S.S. Krishnamoorthy. Following this, the Minister has been divested of his portfolio and relieved of all the responsibilities in the party also, he said, demanding the immediate release of his partymen.
