Arvind Kejriwal nods 'no' to sidelined senior AAP leader Ashutosh's resignation, says 'not in this lifetime'

Hours after the Senior AAP leader and former journalist Ashutosh quit the party today citing 'a very very personal reason,' party chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal rejected his resignation. Kejriwal took micro-blogging site to respond to the former journalist's resignation as the party leader. He tweeted, "How can we ever accept your resignation? Not in this lifetime."

Ashutosh's move came months after a rift within the party over Delhi's three Rajya Sabha seats. Sources close to Ashutosh said that it was not a sudden decision. "It was a long-thought decision," a source said.

According to sources, Mr Ashutosh was unhappy with the party for being sidelined. Announcing his resignation in a tweet, the leader said, “Every journey has an end. My association with AAP which was beautiful/revolutionary has also an end. I have resigned from the PARTY/requested PAC to accept the same. It is purely from a very very personal reason. Thanks to party/all of them who supported me Throughout. Thanks.”

In a second tweet Ashutosh for Media, he said "To media friends. Please respect my privacy. I won't be giving any bite of any kind. Please cooperate." In January, AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had nominated Sushil Gupta, Narayan Das Gupta and Sanjay Singh for the party's Rajya Sabha seats, upsetting several aspirants. However, his announcement was made by Arvind Kejriwal and party leader Sanjay Singh.

A 53-year-old former journalist, the then Managing Editor of IBN7 left the media, joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014. Ashutosh had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk constituency and failed.

Also read: Former journalist Ashutosh quits from AAP cites 'personal reasons'; tweets, 'every journey has an end'