Ticket allocation: AAP office-bearer resigns

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 16

Rajesh Madaan, zonal in-charge of the trade and transport wing of AAP, today resigned from his post and party citing discrepancies in ticket distribution in Amritsar East constituency.

He alleged that parachute candidates were being given preference in tickets while the ground-level volunteers, who worked hard for the party, were ignored.

“The candidate fielded by AAP in Amritsar East is facing a lot of opposition from within the party, being an ‘outsider’. The party has mostly ignored the deserving workers to make way for parachute candidates, which is against the principles once promoted by AAP itself,” Madaan said.

He had also spoken about corruption within the party when the faction led by Sucha Singh Chotepur was ousted from AAP.

“The party is going astray from its original promise of serving only the interests of voters,” he said and

announced that he will now contest as an independent from Amritsar East. “I have been working in the constituency actively for the past two years and know the issues in and out. I live in the area and have been interacting with the people here. We need candidates familiar with the demands and needs of voters.”

Madaan, a gas agency owner, had also conducted an informal survey several months ago to know the expectations of voters in his constituency. He had covered 2,000 households in East Mohan Nagar, carrying out a door-to-door survey.