AHMEDABAD: Gujarat’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced a major reshuffle in the organisation on Wednesday where state president Gopal Italia was appointed as national joint secretary. Italia will also be a co-in charge of AAP in Maharashtra.
Isudan Gadhvi, the CM face of the party in the recent Gujarat assembly elections, has been appointed as the party’s state president.
Additionally, Aam Aadmi Party has divided Gujarat into six zones with separate working presidents for each zone. Alpesh Kathiria in the Surat zone, Chaitar Vasava, MLA of Dediapada in the south zone, Dr Ramesh Patel in the north Gujarat zone, Jagmal Wala in the Saurashtra zone, Jeval Vasra in the central Gujarat zone and Kailash Gadhvi in Kutch zone have been made working presidents.
Taking to social media, Isudan Gadhvi and Gopal Italia thanked AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for giving them their new responsibilities.
Two days ago, a party organization meeting was held at the Aam Aadmi Party's state office in Ahmedabad. Former state president Gopal Italia, Isudan Gadhvi, elected MLAs, and all other key officials were present. Sources close to the party claimed that "in the meeting, the issue of appointing Isudan Gadhvi as the party’s state president was discussed."
An AAP leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that "Many past controversies with Gopal Italia continued to surface during the election time due to which Aam Aadmi Party suffered major losses."
"Despite being the state president, he could not win Surat city’s Katargam assembly seat. He was constantly in controversy due to his statements regarding Hindu saints. The language he used for Prime Minister Narendra Modi also caused a lot of damage to the party. In a way, the party has gained less and lost more from Gopal Italia," he added.
In recent 2022 Assembly polls, AAP had contested 181 out of the total 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat but could win only five seats despite claiming to be the main opponent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which bagged 156 seats, recording a historic victory.