Arvind Kejriwal onetime wonder whose charisma is fast losing sheen: BJP after Ashish Khetan quits AAP

New Delhi: Hours after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader Ashish Khetan quit the party, BJP and Congress on Wednesday claimed that the circumstances highlight a decline in the charisma of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a jolt to the party. Khetan's resignation comes a week after Ashutosh announced his resignation from the party.

Lashing out at Kejriwal, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said the party may "vanish" before the next polls for the city assembly. "Arvind Kejriwal is onetime wonder whose charisma is fast losing its sheen among the people of Delhi and the leaders of his own party. It now appears that by the time of next Vidhan Sabha elections in 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party will vanish from the political horizon," Tiwari said in a statement.

"To fulfil his political ambitions, Arvind Kejriwal brought together a rabble of politically ambitious activists most of whom had no political ideology and with the passage of time this gathering converted into a Dangal arena," the BJP leader alleged in the statement.

The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) also slammed the AAP's national convenor. "Within 6 years of forming the party, most of the old guards, founding members of AAP have left. Obviously, something is terribly wrong within the party," DPCC's chief spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee tweeted.

Khetan took to a social media post to announce his "personal decision to move away from the party and electoral politics". In a Facebook post, Khetan said that his decision should not be "viewed as a reflection on AAP, in any way whatsoever". He added, "I have only received love and respect from the party and its members and volunteers. And I will be forever grateful for that."

Khetan didn't cite any immediate reason for quitting the party but said that for the past two years, he had doubted his interest to continue in electoral politics. "For the past two years, I have been plagued with self-doubt and the question of whether I wanted to continue in electoral politics. Early this year I made my decision to quit active politics after much deliberation and in consultation with family and close friends," he said.

His decision comes months after he quit the Delhi Dialogue & Development Commission. According to him, he had quit in April to join the Bar and establish his commercial law practice. "Back in April, I had quit the Delhi Dialogue & Development Commission to join the Bar and establish my commercial law practice. I've also taken up legal causes in the larger public interest and will continue to do so. Besides practicing law, I'm also keen to return to my writing," he added.

Denying rumours, Khetan said that the decision isn't linked to his desire to contest for any seat. "I would also like to quell the unfortunate rumours that my decision is linked to any desire for any seat. The party had graciously asked me to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but I had politely turned it down. Contesting one more election would have further entrenched me in the world of politics, something I don't want at this point in time. I continue to hold all my ex-party colleagues in high regard and wish them good luck in their future endeavours," he said in the post.

Last week, in a major setback to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, senior leader Ashutosh resigned from the party citing personal reasons.

"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," Ashutosh had said on Twitter.