AAP Botad MLA resigns from party posts, alleges caste bias; suspended hours later for ‘anti-party’ activities

The development comes in the backdrop of AAP leader Gopal Italia recently winning from Visavadar assembly constituency in the by-election.

Makwana, who belongs to the Koli community classified as Other Backward Class (OBC) , announced his resignation during a press conference in Gandhinagar while accusing the AAP of not raising its voice for backward communities. Makwana alleged that the party prefers ‘swarna samaj (upper castes)’ when it comes to granting higher posts.

He alleged that whether it is the AAP, the BJP or the Congress they are the same and when it comes to raise voice for the backward communities they forget it.

“When elections come, backward or OBC communities are used only as vote banks. The leaders of Koli community are used only till the elections are on. BJP and Congress also use leaders of backward communities during elections. All of them are sent to the margins as soon as the elections are over,” Makwana alleged.

“I have sent my resignation letter directly to (party’s national convener) Arvind Kejriwal on WhatsApp. But I will continue to work as an AAP worker,” he said.

When asked if he will resign from the post of MLA as well, Makwana said, “I will consult the people of my constituency. People of Botad have put their faith in me and given me this post. I do not want to do anything because of which they (the people) will feel abandoned.”

While replying to a question, Makwana denied that his resignation was linked to Gopal Italia potentially being appointed party Whip. “I have not received any such message from the party…I have not resigned because of Gopal Italia.”

To buttress his arguments of bias, Makwana cited the recent by-elections to Kadi and Visavadar assembly constituencies.

He claimed, “In Kadi, our candidate (Jagdish Chavda) fought the elections after taking a loan of Rs 10 lakh…He is a Dalit.”

“On the other hand, AAP’s Gopal Italia is from Patidar community. Entire state team of AAP was engaged there (in Visavadar). Resources worth crores were deployed. Our Kadi candidate lost the election. Because he was a poor Dalit, AAP left him on his own. In Visavadar, the candidate was Patidar, from an upper caste, so the entire party put its weight behind him and made him win. Such discrimination won’t be tolerated,” Makwana alleged.

“You keep a photo of Babasaheb (Ambedkar, in offices), but not his ideals in heart… then you cannot do politics in his name,” he said.

In retaliation to Makwana’s claims, Gujarat AAP President Isudan Gadhvi said that the party has suspended Makwana from the party for five years for indulging in “anti-party” and “anti-Gujarat” activities.

Gadhvi said, “The party was getting complaints, including those of corruption, against Makwana from Botad. And he was warned repeatedly by the party. Eventually, the top leadership decided to suspend him from the party.”

He also alleged that BJP is doing dirty politics and is trying to damage AAP through Makwana by winning him over.

“I challenge Umesh Makwana to resign as MLA and win the election again. I also challenge BJP to give Makwana its ticket and win the election of Botad,” Gadhvi said.

On Makwana’s allegations about AAP preferring upper caste people, Gujarat AAP spokesperson Yogesh Jadvani said, “If Umeshbhai considers himself from the backward communities, within 15 days of him joining AAP, he was made the chief of the party’s OBC/SC/ST cell. He was also made the party’s state spokesperson. In the 2022 assembly elections, he was given a party ticket and became an MLA. He was also made party’s national joint secretary and Whip in Gujarat Assembly. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he was given a party ticket from Bhavnagar constituency. AAP has given Umeshbhai his current identity.”

“A number of cases happened in the state where the Koli community required Umeshbhai, but he was not there in many of them. Instead, other AAP leaders from upper caste and backward communities went there. Basically, he is speaking the language of the BJP,” Jadvani added.

On Makwana’s allegation that the party put all its resources behind Italia in Visavadar by-election and left the Kadi candidate on its own, Jadvani said, “He is making false and baseless allegations. Did the Kadi candidate of the party complain? Umeshbhai was given the responsibility of Kadi by-election. He was not present there (most of the time).”

Reacting to Gadhvi’s allegations, Gujarat BJP media convener Yagnesh Dave said, “Isudanbhai has become habitual of levelling allegations against BJP. They (AAP) should put their house in order and inquire what is wrong there… that people are leaving one after another. BJP has 162 seats (in assembly) and it does not need (to poach any party’s MLA). He (Gadhvi) should make himself accountable

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