AAP leader Ashutosh resigns from party

“Every journey has an end. My association with Aam Aadmi Party 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.” With these words, senior AAP leader Ashutosh announced his resignation from the party.

A senior journalist, Ashutosh had quit journalism to join AAP in 2013. He contested the Lok Sabha elections from Chandni Chowk constituency, but lost to BJP’s Harsh Vardhan. He has been taking a backseat in the party in recent months, but news of the resignation was unexpected.

Ashutosh will not immediately be clarifying why he quit, beyond citing personal reasons. He has requested media friends to respect his privacy and said he won’t be giving a byte of any kind. However, sources say Ashutosh is unhappy with party chief Arvind Kejriwal and felt sidelined in the party. Sources say he has been unhappy after ‘party outsider’ Sushil Gupta was given Rajya Sabha membership. He had reportedly said at the time that the party did not respect its genuine cadre, those who sacrificed to spend time fighting for a cause. Sources in AAP told National Herald that Kejriwal had also offered a Rajya Sabha berth to Ashutosh, but he turned it down, reportedly not wanting to sit in the Rajya Sabha along with people like Gupta. The same sources told NH that Ashutosh has quit politics for good.

*Developing story; will be updated