Not in This Life, Says Arvind Kejriwal as Ashutosh Seeks Freedom from AAP

New Delhi: AAP national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has seemingly refused to accept journalist-turned-political Ashutosh’s resignation from the party.

In a tweet, Kejriwal asked how the party could accept Ashutosh’s resignation and said “not in this life".

Five years after he quit journalism to join active politics, AAP leader Ashutosh chose this Independence Day to resign from primary membership of the party citing “very, very personal reasons".

“Every journey has an end. My association with AAP which was beautiful/revolutionary has also an end. I have resigned from the PARTY/requested PAC to accept the same. It is purely from a very very personal reason. Thanks to party/all of them who supported me throughout. Thanks," Ashutosh said on Twitter on Wednesday.

Ashutosh, who had a long career as a television journalist before joining politics and Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption (IAC) movement, requested that his privacy be respected. “To media friends. Please respect my privacy. I won’t be giving any bite of any kind. Please cooperate," he said.

The journalist-turned-politician had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Chandni Chowk on an AAP ticket.

Ashutosh had expressed unhappiness over the choice of two of the three nominees to the Rajya Sabha. Once seen as close to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he had mostly kept away from party activities since then.

AAP has witnessed political turmoil over the years with several of its founding and initial members either tending their resignations or facing expulsions. In March 2015, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were expelled for ‘anti-party’ activities. Following Yadav and Bhushan’s ouster, social activist Medha Patkar left AAP. Journalist-turned-politician Shazia Ilmi and former Delhi assembly speaker MS Dhir also quit the party and joined the BJP.