NEW DELHI: Dissident Aam Aadmi Party leader Shanti Bhushan on Sunday attacked party convener Arvind Kejriwal for hugging a tainted Lalu Prasad, calling it a "betrayal of the dreams of Anna Hazare". The AAP patron also accused Kejriwal of running the party "like a dictator", an allegation frequently directed towards the Delhi Chief Minister.

Hazare's massive India Against Corruption movement had preceded the foundation of the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012. Earlier this year, the party made a stunning comeback in the national capital, winning 67 of the 70 seats.

At the swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar as Bihar Chief Minister in Patna on Friday, Kejriwal and Lalu had shared a hug on the dais, a moment not ignored for its irony by other AAP leaders and political commentators. Lalu is currently barred from contesting elections following his conviction in a fodder scam case.

In Kejriwal's defence, his supporters have claimed that it was Lalu who "forcibly" hugged him despite his "reluctance". They defended the "friendly gesture" between the two, saying that it was nothing but a "political courtesy" at an event that also doubled as a show of strength by anti-BJP parties.

On Saturday, Kejriwal's former colleague and Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav had called the hug a "shameful" act. Yadav, who was expelled from the AAP earlier this year, said it was not mere hugging, but the defeat of ideals to form a bloc against the BJP. "Political capital of the movement sold to symbols of political corruption. Ashamed!" he wrote on his Facebook page.

"This is the same logic which Congress supporters used to use against the Lokpal movement. They would say that they (the Congress) are corrupt, but the Lokpal movement should not be supported as it would help the BJP. Kejriwal used the same logic, but shamed those strove against corruption," Yadav, one of the founders of AAP, wrote.

"AAP invites Shanti Bhushan for National Council meet, but mum when asked abt list of invitees. Many suspended 3 days before. #(Non)Transparency?!" Bhushan tweeted on Saturday.

The National Council is the primary decision-making body of AAP. The decisions taken by the party's top decision-making bodies - the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and the National Executive - are ratified by the National Council, which is a body of founder members. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday.

Shanti and his son Prashant Bhushan were the founder members of the party. Prashant, along with Yadav, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha were sacked from the party after they questioned the leadership. In the controversial last National Council meeting held on March 28 this year, the four leaders were removed from the National Executive.

After the meeting, Yadav and Bhushan accused Kejriwal of using unfair means including bringing goons at the meeting who allegedly beat up a number of NC members opposed to the resolution. Despite sacking Prashant and Yadav, the party took no action against Shanti and he still remains the founder member of the party.

(With PTI inputs)