A number of AAP leaders and prominent individuals today stayed away from the convention of party rebels Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan and chose to express solidarity through written statements instead.

AAP's Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi, who had earlier faced the leadership's ire for taking stand in favour of the dissidents, in a letter stressed the need to work towards strengthening the party's core ideals.

"The need of these challenging times is to stay true to the party's founding ideals and foundational principles and to dispassionately debate all the ideological and organisational issues to prevent the deviation of AAP which has become a symbol of alternative politics," he said.

In the letter, addressed to the volunteers, he also sought to remind them that it was their "right" to act as a watchdog over the party's decisions emphasising that they were in AAP not for any individual but for its principles.

Gandhi alleged that his effigies were burnt and a negative publicity was unleashed against him including labelling him as a "traitor".