Ajay Kothiyal to be AAP's CM candidate for Uttarakhand

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 17

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced the name of Colonel Ajay Kothiyal (retd) as party’s chief ministerial candidate for the 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly election.

Kothiyal was earlier nominated by AAP to contest against Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat in the assembly byelection in Gangotri.

“People here want a break from politicians who have only looted the state. They now want an Army man as CM who will not spend his tenure filling his coffers but serve them,” Kejriwal said at a public meeting in Dehradun, adding that his party will soon announce the first list of candidates for the assembly elections.

He said under Kothiyal’s leadership, AAP will make Uttarakhand the global spiritual capital for Hindus and open avenues for employment for the state’s youth.

Kothiyal is  former principal of Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. Presently, he runs an institute to train youths and motivates them to join the armed force.

The choice of retired army personnel as Chief Ministerial candidate for Uttarakhand by AAP leadership is a strategic move. The state has a large population of ex-servicemen.