AAP in turmoil as Shazia Ilmi and Captain Gopinath quit

NEW DELHI: Signs of dissent and disintegration in the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) came to a boil on Saturday when two leaders — Shazia Ilmi and Captain Gopinath — resigned from all party positions citing “lack of inner party democracy” and “increased differences”. Speculation is rife that Kumar Vishwas, another founder member, may also leave the party. However, this could not be confirmed as he did not answer phone calls.

Shazia Ilmi cited “lack of inner party democracy” and the presence of a “crony clique” as reasons for her resignation. “My decision to leave the party is triggered by the lack of inner party democracy, especially from a party that constantly talks of Swaraj,” said Ilmi, one of the founder members of the party. She added that she has been “systematically marginalized”.

Ilmi was said to be unhappy with the party leadership on certain issues, including the choice of her Lok Sabha constituency Ghaziabad from where she had unsuccessfully contested. However, she denied having problems with being fielded from Ghaziabad.

She slammed the party’s continued use of “sensationalism” to reach out to people and termed Arvind Kejriwal’s refusal to furnish bail bond as “bail-jail imbroglio and a waste of collective energy”. She added, “Arvind should be spending time with cadres, candidates, volunteers, critics et al.”

Captain Gopinath wrote to AAP’s Karnataka convenor Prithvi Reddy, “I would like to resign from the membership of the Aam Admi Party with immediate effect because of increasing differences with the party leadership and its ways.”

The founder of Air Deccan, who joined the party only in January 2014, has been vocal about his disagreement with the ways of AAP. Talking about his resignation, senior party leader Yogendra Yadav said, “Did not even know when he entered the party.” However, Yadav said he was saddened by Ilmi’s resignation and said, “If her role and relevance will be defined in the party, she might consider joining us again.”