Online petition seeking removal of Sanjay Singh, Durgesh Pathak gains momentum
Ludhiana, March 20, 2017: (By Raju William) The online petition launched by Australia based AAP volunteer three days back seeking removal of Delhi based leaders Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak from the party positions has since gained momentum.
Initiated by Canberra, Australia based AAP volunteer and fund-raiser Gurpreet Singh Gill, the petition is addressed to AAP Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. It has asked him to remove both leaders from the positions held by them in the party’s Punjab setup as well as Political Affairs Committee (PAC) since volunteers have lost faith in them.
Gill is an active AAP volunteer, fund-raiser and remained the party's Person of Contact in Canberra. He hails from a village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, Punjab.
Started with a single signature, the petition has since been signed by around 2000 AAP supporters across the globe. The reasons given by the signatories allude to a deep sense of shock over the elections results and their bitterness towards both top leaders. There are indications that their number is set to grow.
The step by way of demand through the online petition was necessitated as both leaders failed to resign from the positions by taking moral responsibility for the Punjab Assembly election results being contrary to the expectations of the party rank and file including NRIs who supported the party in a big way.
“Ideally Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak who called shots in all respects of party’s election strategy should have resigned on moral grounds as the party under them fared far below expectations. We feel that since both haven’t done so they should be removed to uphold AAP’s culture that its leaders don’t hanker after posts,” Gill told babushahi.com over phone from Canberra on Monday.
The petition sums up the mood of the volunteers. It reads: “…With this petition we are appealing to Arvind Kejriwal, Please listen to the voice of all the volunteers of Punjab and Overseas as well and remove Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak from their positions because volunteers have lost faith in them. Also, we don't want leaders from Delhi in Punjab unless they are requested by Punjab leaders...”
It’s in line with this sentiment that Khushmeet Sidhu from Hamilton, New Zealand said he wanted the leadership to be empowered in Punjab. Echoing the same, Sandeep Singh from Kuwait said both leaders were not good for Punjab. Joban Dhillon from India signed the petition for their removal because ‘they don’t give freedom to leaders of Punjab to take decisions’.
When contacted for their reaction, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak did not respond to repeated phone calls and subsequent text messages by babushahi.com
Photo: Gurpreet Singh Gill who started the online petition