AAP DISSOLVES STATE EXECUTIVE, APPOINTS NEW PRESIDENT

HARIDWAR: After a poor show by the Aam Aadmi Party in the recent Uttarakhand assembly elections, its national convener Arvind Kejriwal has dissolved the party’s state executive and units in all the 13 district units in the state. The party appointed Deepak Bali, who had unsuccessfully contested the assembly election from Kashipur seat in Kumaon, as the new state unit president.

At the state party office in Dehradun, AAP workers welcomed the new state president on Friday.

In his address, Deepak Bali said he would work hard to strengthen AAP’s cadre and voter base in the state.

“We will reach out to voters at their doorsteps, induct new members and restructure party organisation. As chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will be contesting from Champawat, AAP will decide soon whether to contest the by-election,” said Bali.

The restructuring of the party in the state was on the cards as the AAP could not win a single seat in the election to the 70-member legislative assembly.

Earlier, AAP state in charge Dinesh Mohaniya apprised about the party high command’s decision to dissolve the state organisation, various cells and all the district units.

“This step will pave way for restructuring the party organisation from booths to the level of the state working committee,” Mohaniya said. AAP had introspected the poor performance in the recently held assembly elections. It chief ministerial face Ajay Kothiyal had made districtwise assessment after declaration of results on March 10.

“AAP leadership wants to restructure the organisation on the lines of Punjab where it won the assembly elections with a record majority,” Mohaniya said

Political analyst Avdesh Shivsaid, “Before to the elections, it was deemed that there is a certain pro-AAP wave with leading poll surveys and exit polls predicting that AAP could win between 1 and 6 assembly seats in the state. But AAP couldn’t even open its account in the state assembly polls with AAP CM face Ajay Kothiyal also losing from Gangotri.”