In a significant post-election reshuffle, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday appointed former minister Saurabh Bharadwaj as the new chief of its Delhi unit, while former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was named the head of the party’s Punjab unit.
The party has also announced new leaders for its various state units. Former Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai has been appointed as the head of the Gujarat unit, Pankaj Gupta will lead the Goa unit, and Sandeep Pathak will take charge in Chhattisgarh. In Jammu and Kashmir, AAP leader Mehraj Malik will head the unit.
Addressing reporters, Saurabh Bharadwaj said he remains committed to strengthening the party, noting that it’s often easier to build a party after an electoral defeat. “In the Delhi elections, AAP secured a vote share of 43.5 percent, while the BJP got 45.5 percent. This clearly shows that nearly half of Delhi voted for us, despite the BJP’s use of police and administrative machinery against us. We will continue working to strengthen the party,” he said.
The decisions were taken by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal during a high-level meeting of the party. The meeting was attended by senior leaders including Manish Sisodia, Sandeep Pathak, Gopal Rai, Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak, Pankaj Gupta, and Raghav Chadha. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann participated in the meeting through video conferencing.