MLA’s brief exit and return highlight leadership tensions and internal discord as AAP struggles ahead of 2027 polls
Chandigarh: Even as artist-turned-politician Anmol Gagan Maan withdrew her resignation from the Kharar Assembly seat within 24 hours, the episode has laid bare the deepening rifts within the Punjab unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), posing a formidable challenge to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the party’s Delhi-based high command.
The sudden resignation—made public on July 19 in an emotionally charged social media post—caught party leaders off guard. Anmol, once a Cabinet minister and prominent AAP face, described herself as “heartbroken” and announced her decision to quit active politics altogether.
However, it emerged that she had formally submitted her resignation to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan nearly a month earlier, on June 20, after weeks of waiting for the party leadership to address her grievances. Party insiders confirmed that her resignation was reversed only after direct intervention by AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and a meeting with Punjab party president Aman Arora. She later issued a statement saying her resignation had been rejected and that senior leaders had urged her to stay on.
While the immediate crisis was averted, the dramatic resignation-withdrawal sequence spotlighted deeper issues festering within AAP’s Punjab unit: dissatisfaction over centralised control, weakened local leadership, and disconnect between MLAs and the state’s top brass.
Anmol joined AAP in 2020 and secured a record victory from Kharar in 2022. She was inducted into the Cabinet with key portfolios but was dropped in a reshuffle in September 2024—a turning point that reportedly triggered her disillusionment. Sources close to her cite a lack of autonomy and bureaucratic overreach in her constituency. She also faced civic unrest in Kharar, including infrastructure failures and bribery allegations involving local officials. She publicly accused Mohali officials of misusing her name for extortion—allegations that embarrassed the administration and widened her rift with the government.
Anmol’s move echoes a broader pattern of dissent in AAP Punjab. In June 2025, MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh was suspended after criticizing the state’s law and order. Earlier, two aides of CM Mann were removed from the Chief Minister’s Office without explanation. Party functionaries, speaking anonymously, described increasing frustration among MLAs over micromanagement by Delhi and Mann’s limited accessibility. “We are elected from Punjab, but our decisions come from Delhi,” one insider complained.
These developments come on the heels of a disappointing 2024 Lok Sabha performance, where AAP managed to win only 3 of Punjab’s 13 seats—a sharp contrast to its 2022 Assembly landslide of 92 out of 117 seats. With the 2027 elections now less than two years away, the party’s internal instability threatens its prospects.
