Journalist-turned-politician Ashish Khetan on Wednesday announced that he has quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying his decision should not be viewed “as a reflection on AAP, in any way whatsoever.”
In his parting note, he wished his ex-party colleagues “good luck in their future endeavours.”
Khetan announced his exit from the party in a Facebook post, saying he had been plagued with “self-doubt and the question" of whether he "wanted to" continue in electoral politics for the past two years.
"Early this year I made my decision to quit active politics after much deliberation and in consultation with family and close friends. However, since both the party and the government were beset with a series of crises, I waited for an opportune time to formalise my decision," he said.
He called it “an unfortunate rumour” that his decision to quit the party was linked to his desire for “any seat.”
“The party had graciously asked me to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but I had politely turned it down. Contesting one more election would have further entrenched me in the world of politics, something I don't want at this point in time,” he added.
The party sources said Khetan had tendered his resignation to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on August 15 but the party convenor has not accepted it so far.
This comes within a week after another journalist-turned-politician and one of the prominent face of the AAP Ashutosh quit the party due to "very very personal reason".
Ashutosh's resignation too has not yet been accepted by Kejriwal, sources said.
Opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sounded doom for the AAP over the resignation of its two prominent leaders within a week.
“Arvind Kejriwal is onetime wonder whose charisma is fast losing its sheen among the people of Delhi and the leaders of his own party," Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee, meanwhile, tweeted “....Obviously, something is terribly wrong within the party."