AAP revamps Gujarat unit after crushing poll loss, names former CM face Isudan Gadvi as chief

The party, which won only 5 of the 181 seats it contested, dropped Gopal Italiya from the president's post; it has also divided the state into 6 operational zones with a working president each.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Isudan Gadhvi | File image | Twitter/@isudan_gadhvi

New Delhi: A month after miserably losing the Gujarat elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has overhauled its state organisation and appointed former chief ministerial face Isudan Gadvi as president in place of incumbent Gopal Italiya.

Italiya, who was Gujarat AAP chief for two years in the run-up to the assembly polls, has been appointed a national joint secretary and co-incharge of the Maharashtra unit.

Italiya told ThePrint that his main priority now would be Gujarat and Maharashtra, and that he looked forward to strengthening the party organisation in these two states.

Apart from the change at the helm, the AAP has also restructured its Gujarat unit – dividing the state into six operational zones, each headed by a working president.

The zones are South Gujarat, Surat, Saurashtra, Central Gujarat, North Gujarat and Kutch.

MLA Chaitar Vasava will head South Gujarat, Aplesh Kathiria will take over Surat, Jagmal Vala will preside over Saurashtra, Jewel Vasra over Central Gujarat, Ramesh Patel over North, and Kailash Gadvi will be working president of the Kutch zone.

Except for Vasava, all the other working presidents lost in the 2022 assembly elections.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP created quite a buzz in the run-up to the Gujarat elections last year. The party contested from 181 of the total 182 seats, but ended up winning just five with a total vote share of 12.9%. Following the loss, the party appointed Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak as a natiomnal general secretary, signalling its intent to rebuild state organisations.

Both Gadvi and Italiya lost from their respective seats in Gujarat. Gadvi lost his debut battle from Khambhaliya in Dwarka by over 18,000 votes to BJP’s Mulubhai Bera, Italiya lost from Kataragam in Surat district by 64,000 votes to BJP’s Vinod Moradiya.

The five AAP candidates who won are Umesh Makwana from Botad, Sudhir Vaghani from Gariadhar, Hemant Khava from Jamjodhpur, Bhupat Bhayani from Visavadar and Chaitar Vasava from Dediapada.

The Bharatiya Janata Party swept the 2022 polls, bagging 156 seats – the highest ever by any party in Gujarat.