Gujarat polls approaching, AAP revs up with major state unit restructure

The rejig came days after the party dissolved its state unit, except for Italia’s post. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s confidant and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi associate professor Dr Sandeep Pathak flew from the national capital to Ahmedabad to announce the new appointments. The 42-year-old Pathak is the leader in charge of the AAP in Gujarat and is considered to be one of the architects of the party’s victories in Delhi in 2019 and Punjab earlier this year.

Isudan Gadhvi who has been appointed the party’s national joint general secretary is a former TV news anchor from Ahmedabad while Rajyaguru, now a national general secretary, is a Rajkot-based real estate businessman who was earlier a Congress MLA. Both of them had joined the AAP in Kejriwal’s presence but had not been given any official posts till now. In the coming days, the party plans to announce two more lists of office-bearers.

Dr Pathak told reporters at a press conference on Sunday that the party had inducted 30,000 active members in the state in two months and the restructuring was done to streamline the organisation in the run-up to the state polls. “With the expansion of our party’s membership, its organisational structure has also expanded. We had to accommodate a maximum number of leaders keeping in view the Assembly polls. In that regard only, the party was first dissolved and then reshuffled,” he added.

The AAP leader also said the party would announce its chief ministerial face soon. “Selecting the party’s CM face is a technical decision that will be announced soon, keeping the electoral prospects in mind. We will select the appropriate time to announce the face so that we capitalise on the decision,” he told reporters.

The AAP announced it was setting up 11 wings keeping in view the social engineering-based politics of Gujarat. Of the 107 office-bearers of the main wing and different cells, the party has maintained a balance of caste dynamics by providing a platform to Brahmins, Patidars, Charans, Ahirs, tribals, Rajputs and Other Backward Classes. There are only two Muslims among the office-bearers — Azazusen Syed, the state joint secretary for the trade cell, and Arif Ansari, the president of the sports wing.

The major appointments are AAP Gujarat’s founder-president Kishorbhai Desai as the state president of its frontal organisation, senior leader Manoj Sorathiya as the state general secretary, former Congress leader Kailash Gadhvi as the state treasurer, former BJP leader from Junagadh Jagmal Vala as vice president, farmer activist Sagar Rabari as the vice president, senior leader Rinaben Raval as vice president, and founding member and former Lok Sabha candidate Arjun Rathva as state vice-president.

It has also appointed Jitendra Upadhyay as education cell president, Bipinbhai Gameti as Birsa Munda Morcha president, Bhemabhai Chaudhary as cooperative wing president, Maheshbhai Kolsavala as Jai Bheem Morcha president, Rajubhai Karpada as Kisan Wing president, Pranav Thakkar as legal wing president, Shivlal Barasia as trade wing president, Gauri Desai as the women’s wing president, Pravin Ram as the youth wing president, and Kishorbhai Rupareliya as the president of an outfit representing doctors.

The list includes six state secretaries in the “main wing” of the party and seven state joint secretaries in the “main wing” of the state unit, 26 “pramukhs” for the Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, 42 district presidents, and 679 Vidhan Sabha “organisational secretaries” at the block level. “One team of a minimum of 11 members has been made in every village of Gujarat. Today, we have released the names of office bearers of the block level. Soon, we will also release names of even village teams,” added Pathak.

Among those unhappy with the organisational changes is Bheemabhai Chaudhary, a former state vice-president, who told The Indian Express, “I am very much part of the AAP but I have expressed my disappointment to the high command that my opinion was not sought even once while doing the reshuffle. We are the ones who have been part of the AAP since its founding days, fighting against both the BJP and the Congress. Yet, it is the new members who have got all the top posts.”

Another founding member and former AAP Gujarat women’s wing chief Ritu Bansal said, “My commitment lies strongly with the party as I am a loyal soldier. But yes there is disappointment that we have not been given due recognition for our hard work.”

The party’s state spokesperson Yogesh Jadvani said, “We don’t have any dissenters but yes it is correct that a few leaders are unhappy with the rejig. They should also understand that the party has only shuffled responsibilities and they are very much part of the AAP.”

The Congress, with which the AAP is now looking to jostle in the Opposition space, also underwent a similar organisational overhaul in Gujarat in March. But Pathak disagreed with the suggestion that his party had taken a leaf out of their rival’s book. “The case with Congress is that it is a big organisation where there is a lot of infighting for a limited number of posts,” he said. “Whereas, our party has expanded the organisational structure to accommodate everyone in order to ensure that there is no greed for any posts.”