Ask Damania not to resign, Kejriwal to AAP’s Maharashtra unit

The AAP has decided not to accept the resignations of its party leaders Anjali Damania and Preeti Sharma Menon, who, on Tuesday, said they would be stepping down from their party posts.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided not to accept the resignations of its party leaders Anjali Damania and Preeti Sharma Menon, who, on Tuesday, said they would be stepping down from their party posts.

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AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has asked the party’s state unit to dissuade the two leaders from pressing for resignation.

Mayank Gandhi, member of the AAP National Executive, said it was imperative to have both leaders in the party. “They have done commendable work till date in exposing several scams. We need such people in public life,” he said. He added that both have resigned due to their personal commitments. “We would ask them to take a break, as we need them to continue in the party posts,” he said.

Damania, a firebrand in the AAP, has been instrumental in exposing several scams, taking on powerful leaders such as Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare and Chhagan Bhujbal.

She also unsuccessfully contested against Union minister Nitin Gadkari for the Nagpur seat. According to sources, the two leaders resigned because they were tired of the negative attitude of some party leaders.

Political experts said that the resignations indicate the growing irrelevance of the party. “The AAP is stagnating. Even without contesting the polls, it could have done a lot, like Anna Hazare did. However, we are not seeing any activity anywhere from AAP,” said Prakash Bal, a veteran political analyst.