AAP appoints Sisodia as in-charge of Punjab unit

NEW DELHI: After major setback in the Punjab civic polls, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday appointed Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as in-charge of its Punjab unit. The post has been lying vacant since Sanjay Singh resigned as its in-charge in May following the dismal show in Delhi Municipal elections, where AAP won only 48 out of 270 wards amid a BJP sweep.

"After assessment of the prevailing political situation in the state of Punjab, the Political Affairs Committee of Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday has appointed senior party leader Manish Sisodia as Prabhari (in-charge) of Punjab," said a senior AAP leader.

Meanwhile, the Punjab unit of AAP has welcomed the appointment of Sisodia as the in-charge of the state unit. Also, in a Press note issued here, party leaders thanked Delhi CM and party convener Arvind Kejriwal for the same.

"Manish Sisodia is one of the strongest leaders of the party and a good administrator. His education model has been widely accepted. We think that the party will fight the best under his leadership in Punjab," said a senior party leader.

AAP saw a severe drubbing in the recent Punjab municipal polls. The party won just a single ward in Bholath (Assembly constituency of AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira) in Kapurthala district out of the total 414 wards. On the other hand, Congress swept the civic polls, winning 267 of 414 wards of municipal councils and Nagar Panchayats, along with the three municipal corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh, in April this year, had resigned from the position of in-charge of its Punjab unit following the party's debacle in the Delhi MC polls.

Manish Sisodia is the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. He also holds Education, Tourism, Art, Culture & Languages and other important departments.

Previously, he was briefly a Cabinet Minister of Delhi between late December 2013 and February 2014, during which he looked after Education, PWD, Urban Development, local bodies and land and building. Prior to being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Delhi in December 2013, Sisodia was a social activist and journalist as well as a member of the National Executive Committee of the Aam Aadmi Party.