Ahmedabad : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that was riding high after winning the Visavadar Assembly seat in the bypoll, faced a setback on Thursday after the party’s Botad MLA Umesh Makwana resigned as whip, citing caste-based discrimination in the party.
The state AAP president Isudan Gadhvi issued a statement suspending Makwana for five years. “Umesh Makwana is suspended from the party for five years for engaging in anti-party and anti-Gujarat activities,” wrote Gadhvi on X. Expressing displeasure over AAP’s defeat in Kadi, Makwana said, All the senior leaders were present in Visavadar, but no one was present in Kadi.
उमेश मकवाना को पार्टी विरोधी एवं गुजरात विरोधी गतिविधियों के लिए पाँच साल के लिए पार्टी से सस्पेंड किया जाता है।
— Isudan Gadhvi (@isudan_gadhvi) June 26, 2025
Where were the senior leaders in Kadi?” he asked. He also mentioned that a Dalit from Kadi had taken a loan of ₹10 lakh to contest the election and is now left to fend for himself. Makwana has been serving as a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from the Botad Assembly constituency for the Aam Aadmi Party since December 2022. He is a member of the Koli caste in Gujarat.
The party has suspended Makwana for his ‘anti-party activities’. State party chief Isudan Gadhvi, in a tweet, said, “Umesh Makwana is suspended from the party for five years for engaging in anti-party and anti-Gujarat activities.”
Sources within the party claim Makwana has been absent from AAP activities for a long time. While there were earlier rumours of his resignation—which he denied via a press conference—this new step has surely reignited the talk in political circles about infighting in AAP.
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