Anmol Maan's resignation unravels AAP

MLA's brief exit and return highlight leadership tensions and internal discord as AAP struggles ahead of 2027 polls

- NEERAJ MOHAN

Even as artist-turned-politician Anmol Gagan Maan withdrew her resignation from the Kharar Assembly seat within 24 hours, the episode has laid bare the deepening rifts within the Punjab unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), posing a formidable challenge to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the party's Delhi-based high command.

The sudden resignation — made public on July 19 in an emotionally charged social media post — caught party leaders off guard. Anmol, once a Cabinet minister and prominent AAP face, described herself as "heartbroken" and announced her decision to quit active politics altogether. However, it emerged that she had formally submitted her resignation to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan nearly a month earlier, on June 20, after weeks of waiting for the party leadership to address her grievances.