Surjeet Singh Thakur has been appointed as the president of the Himachal Pradesh unit of AAP, nearly two months after the party dissolved its working committee in the state following the defection of the top functionaries of its state unit to the BJP. The appointment of Thakur was announced by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who visited Shimla on Tuesday.
Sisodia, accompanied by Himachal AAP co-in-charge Sandeep Pathak, also announced the state unit’s other office-bearers, including eight state vice-presidents, one state secretary, one state treasurer, six state joint secretaries, four Lok Sabha in-charges, and four Lok Sabha joint secretaries. On April 11, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dissolved its Himachal Pradesh working committee and announced that it would reorganize it soon, following the defection of its then state unit president Anup Kesari and several other senior functionaries to the BJP.
Hailing from a village near Rajgarh in the Sirmaur district, Thakur joined AAP as a volunteer since its formation in 2012 and held several posts in the party, including its Sirmaur district president and state vice-president. Soon after the announcement, Thakur, a small farmer, said, "It is only AAP which can appoint an ordinary person like him as its state president." He further said, "AAP wants to change the system in Himachal Pradesh". Having attained higher education in social work, Thakur campaigned for the party in Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana elections. He was working with a private firm in Chandigarh and some other places but left his job in 2016 to take care of work related to the party.
The newly-appointed state AAP vice-presidents are Bhagwant Singh, Sher Singh Thakur, Rama Guleriya, Puran Chand, Purnender Mohan Kashyap, SS Zogta, KG Parashar, and Manish Thakur. Besides, its state secretary will be Rakesh Mandotra and treasurer Professor Kulwant Rana, while state joint secretaries are BR Kaundal, Chetan Chambiyal, Aman Guleria, Pankaj Pandit, Santram, and Surender Bandhu. Besides, Raj Thakur, Rajeev Ambia, Capt. Prashant Sharma and Rakesh Ajta have been appointed as Lok Sabha in-charges for Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, and Shimla seats.
Later, while talking to reporters here, Sisodia said that previous Akali and Congress governments were responsible for pro-Khalistani activities in Punjab. Responding to media queries regarding raising pro-Khalistani slogans in Amritsar, Jalandhar, and other Punjab cities on the anniversary of Operation Bluestar on Monday, Sisodia said, "It's very interesting. In Punjab, there were Akali and Congress governments and they not only organized such types of activities every year but also encouraged such activities."
The senior AAP leader further stated, "As AAP has come to power in Punjab, such activities will also be put to an end gradually."
