With the Punjab leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) blaming the Central leadership for its repeated poor poll performances, the State party affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh and co-incharge Durgesh Pathak on Thursday called it quits.
The duo, who had been given the entire responsibility to manage the Punjab party affairs, has submitted their resignations to AAP’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The development came after the Punjab leaders raised a banner of revolt against its own central leadership for party’s debacle in Punjab polls coupled with Goa assembly elections, followed by successive defeats in Rajaouri bypoll, and Delhi civic body elections.
Sanjay Singh and Pathak took to micro-blogging website, Twitter, to announce their resignations. “I have submitted my resignation as the party in-charge of Punjab to AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal. Durgesh (Pathak) has also submitted his resignation as co-in-charge,” Singh said in a tweet.
“I have resigned from the post of co-observer of Punjab from AAP…I’ll continue as a volunteer within the organisation for a better India,” tweeted Pathak, who, along with Singh faced a series of controversies.
From facing corruption charges to stage managing the exit of party’s former State convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, both Singh and Pathak were dogged by a series of allegations.
The duo was accused of stage managing the sting operation against Chottepur showing him allegedly taking bribe for an assembly ticket. NRI supporters termed the sting a trap stage-managed by the duo, five months before the State was going to the polls which is said to be the beginning of AAP’s downfall in Punjab.
The two leaders also faced charges of taking money and favours to allot tickets to candidates for the Punjab assembly elections.
Criticised as “outsiders” from both within and outside the party, AAP too got an ‘outsiders’ tag with both Singh and Pathak calling the shots in Punjab. They also faced allegations of discriminating against volunteers and leaders of Punjab, leading to discontent in the party unit.
What is more, a video clip, recorded on the evening of February 4, polling day, went viral where Singh was seen ridiculing State leaders like HS Phoolka and Bhagwant Mann—something which did not go down well with the Punjab leaders.
As the party faced a rout in the municipal elections in Delhi, where it is heading the government, the daggers were drawn in the Punjab unit against the central leaders for ignoring the State leaders.
The State leaders came out in open blaming the central leaders for having trust in “outsider” leaders like Singh and Pathak while ignoring the State leaders who actually know the issues. The party’s Punjab leadership has accused the two leaders of sidelining the local leaders while running the entire show on their own that led to party’s resounding defeat in Punjab polls despite massive support. AAP finished a distant second by winning just 20 seats in 117-member Assembly.
AAP’s MlA and chief whip Sukhpal Khaira, who has all along been seeking more powers to the State leaders, has described the development as “a good beginning”.
“It is a good beginning to take corrective measures. I am sure the national convener will take more such steps, which will lead us to a good performance in the 2019 elections,” said Khaira.