NAGPUR: AAP, which had contested the elections in Nagpur with express intention of ensuring the defeat of BJP candidate Nitin Gadkari , has started splitting apart after failing to achieve its objective. Recently, city spokesperson Prajakta Atul and Ajay Sanghi, campaign manager of AAP candidate Anjali Damania, quit the party citing their differences with Damania, who is the state convener.

They also expressed strong resentment against the city executive led by Devendra Wankhade and Girish Nandgaonkar. State secretary Preeti Sharma Menon had told TOI that all district units would be reconstituted. Without waiting for this, a volunteer Dr Sunil Bajaj has formed a splinter group. As of now he has not officially formed a separate faction but has organized a convention of AAP volunteers to strengthen the party.

This convention on June 28 does not have the sanction of the state unit. Menon said that Bajaj's event did not have the sanction of the state unit. "He did not contact us and I am unaware of this event. Any effort to strengthen the party will be planned by the national and state units and not at local level," she said.

Bajaj, however, said that he was not indulging in any anti-party activity. "When Arvind Kejriwal had won the Delhi elections a lot of people had joined AAP. At that time he had said that honest people from other parties were welcome. But these people were given second grade treatment by the existing office-bearers. Many volunteers left the party or worked for it half-heartedly.

"This is just an effort to bring back these disillusioned volunteers into the party fold. We are fed up with the inactivity of the local office-bearers" Bajaj claimed. He is being supported by Ravi Naidu, Imran Alam, Baba Patel and others, activists who were not in the limelight so far.

Meanwhile, the Wankhade-Nandgaonkar faction held protests against rail fare hike at RBI Square. They demanded an immediate rollback.

NCP activists led by city president Ajay Patil and corporator Pragati Patil too staged demonstrations against the hike at Variety Square. Patil stated in a press release that the truth of BJP's slogan of 'Achche din aane wale hain' was before all to see.

