Sisodia to inaugurate AAP state office, meet leaders on Saturday
CHANDIGARH:SIX weeks after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal issued an apology to Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia to settle a defamation case, the party’s Punjab affairs in-charge and Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia will hold a discussion with the state leaders on May 5 on steps needed to strengthen the party here.
He will visit Mohali on Saturday to inaugurate the party’s state office, and is likely to name the candidate for Shahkot assembly bypoll scheduled for May 28. “We have already shortlisted a few names,” said a party leader not authorised to reveal any. The seat fell vacant following the death of SAD legislator Ajit Singh Kohar in February this year.
Sisodia was made in-charge of AAP affairs in Punjab, where the party has been rocked by internal bickering ever since it performed much below projections early last year, in December. Before he could start the process of putting the house in order for AAP, which is the principal opposition party in the state, Kejriwal’s apology to Majithia over the latter’s alleged involvement in the illicit drug trade caused another crisis. State unit president Bhagwant Mann and co-president Aman Arora quit their posts on March 16 and a number of other MLAS threatened to split the party.
Though a split was averted due to lack of consensus, Mann and Arora have not been discharging their duties. This will be Sisodia’s first visit to the state after the row over the apology.