Tweet by Ashutosh comes a day after it was reported that another leader, Atishi Marlena, was made to drop her surname because it sounds Christian.
New Delhi: Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh Wednesday tweeted that the party had, before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, urged him to mention his surname to improve his electoral chances.
Ashustosh’s revelation comes a day after Atishi Marlena was reported to have dropped the title ‘Marlena’ from her name as it sounded Christian.
In 23 years of my journalism, no one asked my caste, surname. Was known by my name. But as I was introduced to party workers as LOKSABHA candidate in 2014 my surname was promptly mentioned despite my protest. Later I was told – सर आप जीतोगे कैसे, आपकी जाति के यहाँ काफी वोट हैं ।
— ashutosh (@ashutosh83B) August 29, 2018
Ashutosh claimed he was introduced to party workers as Ashutosh Gupta, implying that the caste angle came into the picture. In his tweet, Ashutosh alleged he was told that it was a way to ensure votes from his caste.
Ashutosh contested the 2014 elections from New Delhi’s Chandni Chowk constituency, but lost to BJP’s Harsh Vardhan.
Also read: AAP makes MP nominee Atishi drop Marlena from her name because it ‘sounds Christian’
He quit the party on 15 August, citing “very very personal reasons”.
Party sources told ThePrint that immediately after announcing resignation on Twitter, he went incommunicado. Led by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, party leaders tried to convince him to withdraw his resignation, but he declined.
Ashutosh was in-charge of the Delhi unit of AAP in 2015 Delhi assembly elections when the party won 67 out of 70 seats.
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