The Aam Aad mi Party (AAP) suffered a significant political blow in Goa on Monday as its former State president Adv Amit Palekar, officiat ing president Shrikrishna Parab and three other senior leaders resigned from the party’s primary membership, laying bare deep fissures over its in ternal functioning and decision-making culture. In a strongly worded resignation letter ad dressed to AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Goa prabhari Atishi, Adv Palekar said he had joined the party inspired by its professed commit ment to transparency, internal democracy and grassroots participation, but found those ideals in creasingly undermined by centralised, top-down decision-making and min imal consultation at the State level. “I also stand firmly by my belief in a united opposition in the interest of Goa and Goans,” Adv Palekar stated in his letter. Shrikrishna Parab, who served as the party’s gen eral secretary (organisa tion), had been given addi tional charge as officiating State president following AAP’s dismal performance in the recently held Zilla Panchayat elections. Party State vice-presidents Sarfraz Khan and Chetan Kamat, along with Goa Youth Wing president Rohan Naik, also tendered their resignations, compounding the crisis. Addressing a press conference, Adv Palekar spoke can didly about the personal and professional costs he said he bore while building the party in Goa. He alleged that de spite his efforts, he was later made a scapegoat for the par ty’s electoral failure in the ZP polls. AAP had contested 42 ZP seats and extended support to one independent candidate, but managed to secure victory in just one seat. Adv Palekar, who was also projected as the party’s chief ministerial face during the 2022 Assembly elections, said his removal as State president was communicated to him through social media and Twitter — an episode he described as deeply humiliating and emblematic of the party’s internal culture. He said this episode ultimately compelled him to quit both the party’s primary and active membership. “The movement that once showed the dream of alternative politics now appears to be straying from that path,” he said. “I did not enter public life in pursuit of posts or posi tions. I joined the party believing in its promise of an alter native political culture anchored in transparency, internal democracy and respect for grassroots voices. Over time, however, it became increasingly difficult to reconcile these ideals with the way decisions are presently taken and com municated,” Adv Palekar said. Emphasising that his decision was neither impulsive nor driven by bitterness, he said he had always worked sin cerely in the interest of the organisation alongside commit ted karyakartas who invested their time, trust and energy selflessly. “I hold deep respect for them. After much reflec tion, I have chosen to step away not in anger or haste, but with self-respect and clarity. This decision has been taken keeping in mind my fellow workers and, most importantly, the people of my Santa Cruz constituency,” he said. Reiterating his commitment to public life in Goa, Adv Palekar said he would continue to work for accountability, people-centric governance and justice, irrespective of par ty affiliations. “These values are larger than any one party. This is not an end, but a new beginning,” he said. He also levelled serious allegations against the party’s leadership, asserting that despite having sacrificed his family life and legal practice to strengthen AAP in the State, the blame for the ZP election debacle was unfairly placed on him and other State leaders — a charge that has intensi fied questions over the party’s internal accountability and leadership style in Goa.
Palekar’s quitting dents Goa AAP
