Gopal Rai (left) had won the Delhi Assembly poll from Babarpur, while Saurabh Bharadwaj lost in Greater Kailash.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

In the first major organisational reshuffle after its loss to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Delhi Assembly poll, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday appointed Saurabh Bharadwaj as the president of its Delhi unit. Gopal Rai, who was previously the Delhi chief, has been appointed as the prabhari (in-charge) of Gujarat, where the party is looking to expand its base.

Former AAP Delhi MLA Durgesh Pathak has been appointed as the sah prabhari (co-in-charge) of the Gujarat unit.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has been made the prabhari and Satyendar Jain the sah prabhari (co-in-charge) of Punjab.

In addition, AAP Jammu and Kashmir MLA Mehraj Malik has been appointed as the new chief of the party’s local unit and national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak has been given the additional responsibility of a ‘special prabhari’ in Chhattisgarh.

AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta will be the prabhari in Goa, with Ankush Narang, Abhash Chandela, and Deepak Singhla as sah prabharis.

‘Gujarat, Punjab in focus’

In the Delhi Assembly election, Mr. Rai won from the Babarpur Assembly constituency, while Mr. Bharadwaj, Mr. Sisodia, Mr. Jain and Mr. Pathak lost their seats from Greater Kailash, Patparganj, Shakur Basti and Rajinder Nagar respectively.

The decisions were taken in a meeting of the political affairs committee, the highest decision-making body of AAP, in Delhi. The meeting was chaired by party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

According to a party insider, AAP’s focus will now be on Punjab and Gujarat and the appointments have been made in view of the State polls in 2027. AAP had won five seats and registered a 12.9% vote share in Gujarat in the 2022 Assembly election. In Punjab, the party won 92 of the 117 seats and formed the government, with Bhagwant Mann as the Chief Minister.

‘Will rebuild party’

After his appointment, Mr. Bharadwaj said that the party will rebuild itself. “I believe that rebuilding an organisation is easiest after a loss because, after a victory, many people join, but those who remain after a loss are pure gold. With them, the party will be rebuilt even stronger,” he added.

Mr. Pathak said that the focus in Gujarat would be giving the voters a credible alternative.