New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Wednesday that it had every right to constitute a new Lokpal, a decision that led to the exit of retired admiral L. Ramdas as its ombudsman.
“AAP has rightfully constituted a new internal Lokpal. The party has all the rights to do this,” Delhi Transport Minister and AAP leader Gopal Rai said in a statement.
His comments came after Ramdas wrote to AAP general secretary Pankaj Gupta questioning the party’s decision to set up a new Lokpal when his own tenure had not ended.
Ramdas was removed as Lokpal on Sunday, a day after senior party leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan and two more leaders were sacked from the AAP national executive.
The party had said that Ramdas’ tenure as Lokpal had ended. But Ramdas told Gupta that his tenure was to end in November 2016.
Ramdas was replaced by a three-member panel headed by N. Dilip Kumar, a retired IPS officer.