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In setback to Uttarakhand AAP, top leader Anant Ram Chauhan joins Congress
Retired police officer Anant Ram Chauhan, who joined AAP in December 2020, said he exited the party and joined the Congress because he was “feeling suffocated” in AAP.
DEHRADUN: A day ahead of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Dehradun visit, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state working president Anant Ram Chauhan joined the Congress on Sunday in Delhi.
Chauhan, a retired Indian Police Service officer, said he resigned from AAP as he was not being taken into confidence over party activities in the state.
AAP has three state working presidents for Garhwal, Kumaon and Terai regions. “I was the state working president in charge of Garhwal region,” said Chauhan, a provincial police service officer who was inducted into the Indian Police Service in 2005. He retired in 2018 and joined AAP in December 2020.
“Everything was being managed from Delhi, what to do, when to organise a press conference and so on. Here we couldn’t decide anything. So, I was feeling suffocated in the AAP and decided to join the Congress,” said Chauhan.
Rajeev Mehrishi, media in-charge of Congress state unit, said Chauhan, a former inspector-general of police in Uttarakhand, and many others took membership of the Congress and stressed that the people of the entire state were suffering due to inflation, corruption and unemployment.
Ganesh Godiyal, state Congress president, said Chauhan joining the Congress will definitely strengthen the party in the state.
AAP leader SS Kaler said Chauhan was never interested in strengthening the party in the state as he had great expectations from the party which were not fulfilled. “So, he has chosen the easy way out and joined the Congress.”
