Goa AAP Crisis Deepens as Top Leaders Quit Amid Leadership Disputes

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In a significant blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Goa, four top leaders, including former state president Amit Palekar and acting chief Srikrishna Parab, have resigned from the party. The move comes after the party's poor performance in the Zilla Panchayat elections, where it won only one seat out of 42 contested. Palekar, who was the party's presumptive chief minister in the 2022 assembly elections, was removed as state president last month. He has now cited the party's leadership style as a reason for his resignation, stating that decisions are made from the top without adequate consultation or dialogue. This, he claims, has strained the party's institutions and weakened its democratic functioning. Palekar also expressed his dissatisfaction with the way he was relieved from his post, saying that he was singled out for the party's poor performance in the elections. He has had differences with the party's national leadership in the past, particularly over the decision to go it alone in the polls. The four leaders, who also include Goa AAP's youth wing president Rohan Naik and vice president Chetan Kamat, have announced their exit from the party. Palekar has stated that he will make his next steps clear in due course. The AAP's poor performance in the Zilla Panchayat elections has raised questions about the party's ability to contest elections effectively in Goa. The BJP-MGP alliance won 32 of the 50 ZP seats, while the Congress won 10. The resignation of top leaders from the AAP in Goa is seen as a significant setback for the party, which had been making inroads in the state. However, the party's national leadership has yet to comment on the development.