AAP Assam in turmoil: State president Manoj Dhanowar, women's wing chief Masuma Begum resign

Aam Aadmi Party's Assam unit president Manoj Dhanowar on Friday said that he has resigned from the post. 

AAP's women's wing president in the state, Masuma Begum, not only quit her post but also left the party, which had made an impact in the last civic body polls in the state.

 The resignations come at a time when the AAP is trying to make inroads into the rural areas of the state, with not even a month left for the panchayat polls.

Dhanowar shared on social media his resignation letter that he had sent to AAP's national general secretary (organisation), Sandeep Pathak, on January 2. 

He said in the letter that he was resigning due to "unavoidable circumstances". "I thank the party leadership for providing me this opportunity to move forward and I shall serve as a party volunteer from now onwards," he said. AAP's state secretary Amlanjyoti Hatibaruah said it was "strange" that Dhanowar made his resignation letter public after four months. "Probably his resignation was not accepted," he added. 

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As Dhanowar had been inactive for some time, the AAP appointed its national joint secretary Bhaben Choudhury as the acting state president last month. "Our executive committee had to appoint Choudhury as the state president as Dhanowar had been inactive for over two months. And today, he made public his resignation letter," Hatibaruah told PTI. 

Choudhury was removed from the post of the state president in September last year. 

Meanwhile, Begum tendered her resignation within hours of addressing a press conference on the upcoming panchayat elections in the state. "I am writing to formally resign from the position of State President, Women Wing, AAP, Assam, and primary membership," she said in the letter. 

She was the only AAP candidate to win the elections to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation in 2022. The panchayat polls will be held in the state on May 2 and May 7.