New Delhi, India –In a significant organizational change, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday appointed former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi as the party’s new in-charge (Prabhari) for the state of Goa. This appointment comes as the previous Goa unit in-charge, Pankaj Gupta, is currently unavailable due to illness.
The announcement was made by the party via its official handle on X (formerly Twitter), congratulating Atishi on her new responsibility: “AAP Leader @AtishiAAP has been appointed as the Prabhari for the state of Goa. Best wishes to her on the new responsibility.” As a key strategist and prominent national face of the AAP, Atishi is expected to oversee organizational affairs and work towards strengthening the party’s presence in the coastal state, particularly with an eye on the 2027 Assembly elections. The AAP made its electoral debut in Goa in the 2017 Assembly polls and secured two seats in the 2022 elections.
Atishi Slams BJP Over “Misuse” of Central Agencies
Atishi’s elevation to this new role comes amidst heightened political tensions, with the AAP stalwart recently leveling strong accusations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Just days earlier, on July 19, Atishi publicly stated that the BJP had “resumed its political vendetta by misusing central agencies already criticised by the Supreme Court as ‘caged parrots’.” She alleged this resurgence of action by central agencies was a direct consequence of the BJP’s humiliation in the recent Visavadar bypoll in Gujarat, despite what she described as the deployment of “money, muscle, and the entire state machinery.”
According to an AAP release, Atishi asserted that the BJP is now “fabricating cases against AAP leaders after failing to find a single instance of corruption in years of relentless raids,” claiming that the AAP’s “rising graph exposes decades of the BJP’s decline in Gujarat.”
During a press conference, Atishi, who also serves as the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, pointed to the sudden resurgence of Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s cases against AAP leaders. “The BJP has once again resumed its blatant misuse of central investigative agencies. The cycle of fake cases is back in motion,” she declared. She reminded that even after the Supreme Court’s scathing observation against the BJP for allegedly misusing ED and CBI, stating these agencies were “not independent and are being used with malicious intent,” the BJP had “restarted its political vendetta.”
Highlighting the recent developments in Gujarat, Atishi continued, “Why are ED cases being reopened against Aam Aadmi Party leaders now? The real reason lies in the Visavadar by-election in Gujarat. The BJP tried everything possible to defeat AAP in that seat, from spending enormous sums of money to distributing alcohol under police protection in a dry state.”
She further alleged intimidation tactics, stating, “Our workers were intimidated, threatened, and attempts were made to compromise with them and even with our candidate. The entire administration was abused, and all the BJP ministers and MLAs were deployed on that one seat. Yet, the Aam Aadmi Party won the by-election by a massive margin.”
The Visavadar by-election, held on June 19, saw AAP’s Gopal Italia secure a significant victory by over 17,000 votes against the BJP’s candidate, a result that boosted AAP’s presence in the Gujarat Assembly. This win has been a key point of reference for AAP in its criticisms of the BJP’s alleged use of central agencies.
Atishi’s new role in Goa signifies AAP’s continued national expansion ambitions, particularly in states where the party sees potential for growth beyond its strongholds of Delhi and Punjab.