Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashutosh has announced his exit from the party, citing personal reasons.
“Every journey has an end. My association with AAP which was beautiful/revolutionary has also an end. I have resigned from the PARTY/requested PAC to accept the same. It is purely from a very very personal reason. Thanks to party/all of them who supported me Throughout. Thanks (sic),” he tweeted.
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Ashutosh had expressed unhappiness over the choice of two of the three nominees to the Rajya Sabha. Once seen as close to Kejriwal, he had mostly kept away from party activities since then.
Sanjay Singh, MP and a member of the party’s Political Affairs Committee of which Ashutosh was a member, called the resignation “heartbreaking”.
“My association with Ashutosh as a friend and trustworthy partner will be lifelong. His separation from the party is a heartbreaking news for me,” he said, adding he will request him to take back the resignation.
Ashutosh was the AAP candidate from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and finished runner-up to BJP’s Harsh Vardhan.
For 2019, Pankaj Gupta, a party spokesperson, has been chosen as the ‘prabhari’ of Chandni Chowk and most likely will be the candidate as well.
Ashutosh is the latest in a series of senior leaders to quit the AAP, which has ruled Delhi since 2015. Those who exited earlier included Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Mayank Gandhi, Anjali Damania, Anand Kumar, Ajit Jha and Shazia Ilmi.
More details are awaited.
