Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Day after resigning, Ashutosh wishes Kejriwal on birthday

- HT Correspond­ent htreporter­s@hindustant­imes.com

NEW DELHI: A day after senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh announced his resignatio­n from the party, he took to Twitter to wish Delhi chief minister and party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal on his birthday.

Kejriwal had refused to accept Ashutosh’s resignatio­n on Wednesday and had said everyone in the party “loved him a lot”.he had said it would not be possible to let the party spokespers­on leave, at least “not in this lifetime”.

On Thursday, at 4.30pm, Ashutosh tweeted, “Many many happy returns of the day to @Arvindkejr­iwal (sic)”.

Though Kejriwal did not reply to the tweet, he acknowledg­ed Ashutosh’s wishes with a retweet.

The TV journalist-turnedpoli­tician’s announceme­nt was followed by a series of tweet by senior AAP leaders, urging him to withdraw his resignatio­n and reconsider his decision.

Several volunteers had also circulated pictures of Kejriwal hugging Ashutosh after the landslide victory of the party in the 2015 Delhi assembly elections, captioning it ‘jaane nahi denge tujhe (we will not let you go)’. “My relationsh­ip with Ashutosh will always be that of a dear friend, a truthful human being, and a trustworth­y partner throughout my life. His decision to leave the party will be a heart-wrenching episode for me,” Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh had tweeted on Thursday.

On Thursday, however, no AAP leader was seen at Ashutosh’s residence in Noida Sector

ASHUTOSH DID NOT REVEAL THE REASON FOR HIS RESIGNATIO­N AND REQUESTED

FOR PRIVACY

105. On Wednesday, AAP’S Delhi convener Gopal Rai and senior leader Dilip Pandey had reached his house to convince him to withdraw his resignatio­n but Ashutosh was not at home.

Leaders confirmed on the condition of anonymity that since Wednesday afternoon he was being pacified over phone calls. A lot of the calls made went unattended, they said.

Ashutosh did not reveal the reason for his resignatio­n and requested for privacy. In his tweet, he had said his decision was prompted by “very very personal” reasons.

He had, however, stopped attending important meetings and party functions since January when the AAP announced the Rajya Sabha candidate list.

 ?? SONU MEHTA/HT ?? Senior AAP leader Ashutosh had quit the party on Wednesday.
SONU MEHTA/HT Senior AAP leader Ashutosh had quit the party on Wednesday.

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