Day after reshuffle, AAP Goa vice president Pratima Coutinho quits party

In a letter to the party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Coutinho said it was time for her to explore other horizons and pursue other avenues in her career and personal life.

“I am writing to inform you of my decision to resign from the position of main state vice president of AAP (Goa) and as a primary member of AAP. This decision has not been made hastily but after careful consideration of my personal and professional goals… I work in my own ways to help Goa and Goans at large, and that is my priority right now,” said Coutinho in her letter.

Coutinho told The Indian Express, “I want to work for Goa and Goans. I don’t need any tags. In the last 10 months, I have been working more as an activist, and not under the party banner.”

Hinting that she had decided to quit the party some time ago, she said, “I was not aware that the new office bearers would be announced on Tuesday. I did not want to create a tamasha by resigning immediately after accepting the letter for the vice president post. I was also offered the post of women president, but I refused… Already, I have been approached by three to four parties, but I told them that my priority is to work for the society currently”.

Coutinho, the former president of the Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress, had joined the AAP in 2021.

AAP Goa president Amit Palekar said Coutinho’s resignation has come as a complete surprise to the party, which entrusted her with the position of state vice president in the reshuffle.

“There was no conflict. It appears that she probably had been wanting to leave [the party] for some time. The party is taking her statement of quitting for personal and professional reasons at face value. Maybe she felt that her work as an activist would be curtailed,” said Palekar.

According to Palekar, Coutinho did not want to hold the post of women president as she wanted more time for the constituency and her social work.

“We accordingly had considered her request… I believe any political decision is taken after considerable thought and not spontaneously. If she wanted to quit, she should not have agreed to be the vice president when discussions had been taking place. We wish her well for her future and hope that she reconsiders her decision and continues her work with the honest political ideology of the party,” Palekar added.