AAP's Yogendra Yadav, Jaihind resign from key posts, but not from party

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Yogendra Yadav on Saturday resigned as member of the political affairs committee (PAC) and national executive (NE). Haryana state convenor Naveen Jaihind, too, resigned from the posts. However, both have not quit the party.  

The two had contested the general elections from Haryana and lost. Sources said both had offered to resign on disagreement between the two, which had resulted in Jaihind being served a notice. While Yadav is the Haryana political unit in-charge, Jaihind is the state convenor.

Spokesperson and Delhi unit secretary Dilip Pandey said on Twitter the two had resigned as members of the PAC and NE and not from the party.  

Pankaj Gupta, the national secretary, told PTI the issue would be on the agenda of NE when it met in a few days.

Since Saturday afternoon, social media was abuzz with reports of Yadav’s resignation, suggesting he wanted to take moral responsibility for the crushing defeat in Haryana this general elections.

Yadav was unavailable for comment.

Sources close to Yadav said he had taken this step to stregthen the party before  state polls in Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi.     

The resignations of Shazia Ilmi and Captain G R Gopinath had exposed the growing fissures in the year-old party. After constesting the Delhi assembly polls, this was AAP’s first ambitious Lok Sabha electoral outing. Apart from Punjab, AAP had not been able to make a significant impact on any other state, including Delhi.