Could AAP use its constitution to remove lokpal Admiral Ramdas?

Controversy over who stays who goes in the Aam Aadmi Party continues, as news surfaced Thursday of the pending removal of Admiral (retired) Laxminarayan Ramdas as the party’s internal Lokpal. The party reacted quickly to such reports, putting out an official statement where it “strongly condemns mischievous news reports in a section of media about the party’s lokpal -- Admiral (retired) Ramdas. The party terms these reports as false, misleading and based on fiction done with a malicious intent”. The statement added that the party “outrightly rejects all frustrated attempts to drag the name of Admiral Ramdas into controversy”.

Why then the controversy?
However, behind the scenes are hints that the Admiral may be on his way out. There is a feeling that he may have overshot his mandate by writing the letter to the National Executive when it met on February 26. The letter was extremely critical of some of the party’s practices and was the first concrete evidence of rifts within AAP. Talking about the many “crisis situations in the party” it referred to Prashant Bhushan’s unhappiness with the candidate selection, the controversy of Arvind Kejriwal being both Delhi CM and national convenor, breakdown in communications and problems in the internal party democracy, among many other things. 

Is the party divided over him?
Sources confirm that there is a certain section in the party that want Ramdass out for daring to speak up against Kejriwal and criticise the party. Calling this section the party’s “suicide squad” a senior leader said that they don’t know how much damage they will do by removing Ramdas. According to this leader, Ramdas needs to be requested to stay on after his term is over.

What does the constitution say?
Another senior leader called these reports “pure conjecture”, however, said that there is reason to remove Ramdas according to the party’s constitution, which calls for members of the party lokpal retiring after a year. The Admiral has held his post for almost two-and-a-half years. These technicalities could be easily used to justify Ramdas stepping down, if the party does go down that path. Exploiting the rules of the constitution would provide the perfect excuse for a party known to hold the position of lokpal in the highest regard, buffering it against accusations of interfering with the ombudsman or vindictiveness against anyone who criticises Kejriwal. The matter is expected to be discussed further either in a meeting of the national executive, or in the national council itself on March 28.