After the recent controversy of Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi Marlena dropping her surname ‘Marlena’, as it was sounded ‘too Christian’ to contest the next Lok Sabha elections, a similar incident has been alleged to have taken place. This time it is the case of the recently resigned Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashutosh, who has alleged that the party used his surname despite his protest in the 2014 general elections.
A former journalist turned politician Ashutosh in his tweets has alleged Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party that he had been forced to mention his last name when he contested 2014 Lok Sabha election from Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi. He further said that despite the fact that he is not using his surname in the public, the party chose to include his surname, which was protested by Ashutosh.
In 23 years of my journalism, no one asked my caste, surname. Was known by my name. But as I was introduced to party workers as LOKSABHA candidate in 2014 my surname was promptly mentioned despite my protest. Later I was told – सर आप जीतोगे कैसे, आपकी जाति के यहाँ काफी वोट हैं ।
— ashutosh (@ashutosh83B) August 29, 2018
He further added that he was advised not to drop his surname as it would be difficult to win because ‘many people of his caste were voters’ in that area. Ashutosh quit the Aam Aadmi Party on 15th August citing personal reasons, but it is believed that he quit the party over differences with Arvind Kejriwal for not selecting him as the party’s choice for the membership of the Rajya Sabha.
Ashutosh contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Chandni Chowk against BJP’s Harsh Vardhan and Congress’s Kapil Sibal. Aam Aadmi Party had contested all the 7 seats from Delhi, failed to register a win even in one seat.
