Arvind Kejriwal with party MP Bhagwant Mann at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Sunday. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh) Arvind Kejriwal with party MP Bhagwant Mann at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Sunday. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)

Even as Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s five-day visit to Punjab was marred by protests from rival parties, there is also growing discontent among AAP workers across the state. With the induction of several new faces into the party recently, the senior volunteers are reportedly feeling ignored.

This was evident at the public meeting Kejriwal addressed at Chhajli in Sangrur, where a group of workers who had sat in the front row told The Indian Express that they had attended the meet on their own and had not been informed of it by AAP’s Sangrur unit.

Lakhdeep Bawa, an AAP worker from Gandua village in Sangrur, said, “I worked hard for Bhagwant Mann’s election (as MP) and was appointed as coordinator of this village. But Mann and his aides never call us for any party activities. Even during Kejriwal’s visit in Sangrur, I came on my own. If this continues, I will stop working for the party.”

Jagtar Singh and Gurjant Singh added: “Mann won by 238 votes from Gobindgarh Jejian and can you imagine, he never visited this village even once since. Two years have passed by now and we have visited his party office a number of times to put in a request to visit the village just once.”

Singh alleged, “The party is inducting new leaders without thinking and even without checking their credentials, due to which senior and hardworking workers are being ignored and this is causing widespread resentment within the party.”

Chamkaur Singh Khokhar, another AAP worker, said, “It seems that even AAP leaders are working like those of other political parties and they are now visiting villages just to seek votes. Mann never did any development work in our village.”

Gursharan Joshi of Gobindgarh Janjia and Kala Singh of Sheruan said they were “still waiting” for benches in their village and a working reverse osmosis system for which the panchayat had given an application to MP Mann.

Workers in Abohar, however, raised a different issue. “There is no active women wing of AAP in this area. The party needs to work hard on setting up a women’s wing as they are the ones who can interact with women voters.”

Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, however, said, “Some differences exist in a family at times. But overall, the party workers have a harmonious relationship with leaders. Volunteers need not panic.”

AAP Punjab convenor Sucha Singh Chhotepur said, “I have not yet heard of any discontent among party workers. In case they are unhappy, they should come and speak to us directly.”

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