Dehradun: Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced that retired Army colonel Ajay Kothiyal will be the party's chief ministerial candidate in 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly polls.
Addressing a press conference at the IRDT auditorium here, Kejriwal said Kothiyal was the principal of the Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering when the Kedarnath disaster struck and is credited with doing commendable work in rescuing people and helping the affected put their lives back on track in the aftermath.
Later, the AAP chief met party office-bearers and held a roadshow with Kothiyal in the heart of the town.
Kejriwal said the decision to pick Kothiyal, who joined AAP in April, as the party's CM face is based on the feedback received from people who are fed up with politicians helming the state.
"(Manish) Sisodia was here some time back. He asked people directly who should be the party's CM face. The response in favour of Col Kothiyal was overwhelming.
"People here want a break from politicians who have only looted the state. They now want a soldier full of patriotic feelings as CM, who will not spend his tenure filling his coffers but serve them," he said.
"He (Kothiyal) was battling terror and guarding the country's frontiers when politicians were busy looting the state," he said.
If voted to power, the Aam Aadmi Party, under the leadership of Kothiyal, will make Uttarakhand the global spiritual capital for Hindus, he added.