Four from Malwa, one from Doaba on AAP executive

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 27

As many as five members from Punjab have made it to the AAP’s National Executive.

However, only one person from Doaba — Yamini Gomar — has been chosen to represent the party at the national level. The Malwa region gets the lion’s share of the party’s representation from Punjab with four leaders from the region making it to the list. In addition to these, Sucha Singh Chhotepur (Gurdaspur) shall be ex-officio member of the national executive by virtue of being a state convener.

The five Punjab members from the 25-member list of the AAP’s national executive are – state women wing incharge Baljinder Kaur (Talwandi Sabo), state youth wing in- charge Harjot Bains (Ludhiana), Sangrur and Faridkot MPs Bhagwant Mann and Sadhu Singh and Hoshiarpur leader Yamini Gomar, who contested the 2014 general elections from Hoshiarpur.

A social activist, Gomar raked in over 2 lakh votes for the party in the 2014 elections.

Notably, while the national executive of the party didn’t have a single candidate from Punjab, the state has got a boost with five candidates this year. However, Doaba has a meagre representation, especially Jalandhar which has drawn a blank.

Sources said, “While it’s a good thing that Punjab has got a robust representation in the national executive this year the lack of representation to Doaba is disconcerting.

If it wasn’t for ex-officio membership of Sucha Singh Chhotepur, Majha too would have drawn a blank. In terms of the number of leaders as well, while the AAP leaders in Malwa abound, Doaba has a comparative dearth. While leaders like HS Phoolka and 2014 Anandpur Sahib candidate Himmat Singh Shergill are substantial AAP names from Malwa, by comparison Doaba has almost no known faces left from the old team. This vacuum needs to be filled before the 2017 election,” the sources pointed out.

Jalandhar Zonal Observer Rajiv Chaudhary, said, “Given the comparative leadership in the state, Doaba does get ample representation. While there were two MP candidates from Doaba in the 2014 general elections, one of them (Jyoti Mann from Jalandhar) is no more a part of the party while the Gomar has made it to the executive committee. What more could we ask for. Additionally, in terms of national representation, Doaba also has representation in the National Council. Pavitar Singh from Phillaur and Naveen Jairath from Hoshiarpur are both members of the council. In the coming days the region shall see prominent faces emerging,” he added.