Uttarakhand Congress suffers further setback as two senior leaders join AAP

The two leaders alleged that Congress was not addressing the reasons for its defeats in elections, was indulging in infighting, and working as per the “family system”

In a massive setback to India’s ‘grand old party’, two senior Congress leaders from Uttarakhand — spokesperson Rajendra Prasad Raturi and state Mahila Congress vice president Kamlesh Raman — joined the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday. While Raturi said he spent 45 years in Congress, Raman claimed she gave 28 years to the party.

Delhi deputy CM and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia (left) with the two Congress leaders in Delhi on Monday. (Twitter Photo)

The two leaders alleged that Congress was not addressing the reasons for its defeats in elections, was indulging in infighting, and working as per the “family system”.

Both joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party at the Delhi secretariat in the presence of Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia after announcing their exit from the Congress on social media.

Raturi said Congress is not learning from its defeats of 2017 and 2022. “Infighting is prevalent in Congress, with party leaders hitting out at each other in public space. I contributed to the party with my sweat and blood for the past 40-45 years. I can’t see the party shrinking in this manner,” he said, adding that he joined AAP as it is the only party that fits with his “secular ideology”. “How can I join the BJP?” he added.

Meanwhile, Raman said she left the Congress with a heavy heart. “I gave my everything to the [Congress] party. But it perhaps doesn’t need dedicated workers. I was part of every struggle but when it came to the distribution of tickets, they ask how much money you have got. I had no authority to work in the party,” she said.

The new inductions have come as a shot in the arm for AAP, which recently lost two prominent leaders — state unit chief Deepak Bali and Colonel (retired) Ajay Kothiyal, AAP’s chief ministerial candidate in the 2022 assembly elections — to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in less than a month.

AAP is in the process of rebuilding the organisation in Uttarakhand following the poll debacle, and Sisodia said the extensive experience of the two leaders will boost the confidence of party workers.

Welcoming the new entrants into the party fold, Dinesh Mohaniya, AAP’s state in-charge, said people trust Kejriwal and his policies and that they will soon build a strong organisation in Uttarakhand.

Jot Singh Bisht, the state organisation coordinator of AAP, said the two new entrants will strengthen the process of the party’s rebuilding process.

Uttarakhand Congress president Karan Mahara said that ever since he took charge as the state party chief, he has been addressing every issue to strengthen the organisation.

“When the two leaders already decided to join the AAP, we couldn’t have done anything to stop them from,” he said.