New Delhi: In an interview earlier this yr in April, Aam Aadmi Celebration’s (AAP) Sandeep Pathak, then newly elected member of Rajya Sabha, had reportedly mentioned: “My thoughts works as a scientist, not as a politician”.
Pathak was Tuesday appointed the nationwide common secretary of AAP, a place created only for him. He was additionally made a “Everlasting Invitee” to the Political Affairs Committee, the occasion’s highest decision-making physique.
Although not a brand new title in political circles, Pathak’s rise is exclusive given his robust tutorial CV and low profile among the many plenty.
The 43-year-old was born in Chhattisgarh’s Batha village. He moved to Bilaspur for his education and, after incomes a BSc there, he went on to get a PhD from the College of Cambridge, UK. He then pursued additional research at UK’s Oxford College, after which on the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise, US. He turned a member of the AAP in 2016.
Pathak was additionally an assistant professor on the Indian Institute of Expertise (IIT) Delhi within the division of power science and engineering, which he joined in 2016 as effectively. He left in 2020 and has been working full time for the AAP ever since.
Pathak got here into prominence after AAP’s large sweep in Punjab through the 2022 meeting elections. He was mentioned to be the brains behind the occasion’s election methods.
In April, addressing a crowd in Bilaspur throughout his first go to to town after changing into a Rajya Sabha MP, Pathak had pitched himself because the “son of Chhattisgarh”. “I used to be within the US and England for 9 to 10 years. I’ve left huge jobs in these international locations to come back again to India,” he said.
“I used to be an IIT professor in Delhi — a authorities job — and had a cushty life…I left that to hitch politics…. Nations that bought independence after us have moved forward of us. India is caught due to corruption all over the place…as a result of politics right here is flawed. Colleges and hospitals are flawed right here as a result of the politics right here is flawed. Politicians have spoiled the politics right here,” he added.
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Work inside AAP
Although now thought of a detailed aide to Arvind Kejriwal, nationwide convenor of AAP, Pathak wasn’t all the time a part of the occasion’s core and claimed to have personally met the Delhi CM solely after the occasion’s defeat in 2017 Punjab elections.
Like many different professionals — similar to different distinguished faces within the AAP, like Saurabh Bhardwaj, Somnath Bharati and Dilip Pandey — Pathak was drawn to the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption motion in 2011.
In 2017, in response to Pathak, he was despatched for a survey to Punjab forward of the meeting polls. Regardless of his {qualifications} as a scientist and researcher, Pathak was new to surveying. “I began roaming round in Punjab, speaking to folks, understanding what they had been saying and documenting it, which I’d then ship to Ashishji (Ashish Khetan), and finally they realised that my understanding was, to a sure diploma, appropriate post-election outcomes,” mentioned Pathak throughout an interview.
Most exit polls in 2017 had predicted a win for the AAP, however the occasion did not make a mark within the state and received solely 20 seats.
For the 2022 Punjab meeting elections, Pathak started his work within the state two years earlier than the polls, reorganising and restructuring the occasion, all the best way to the village degree. His efforts clearly paid off because the occasion bought a thumping majority, profitable 92 of 117 seats.
Pathak’s system depends closely on surveys and suggestions. He, the truth is, mentioned the occasion’s “scientific and systematic” surveying system is superior to these of personal businesses.
Earlier than the AAP’s Punjab win, Pathak additionally labored in shut quarters with Prashant Kishor, then a political strategist, to plan the occasion’s marketing campaign in Delhi for the 2020 meeting elections. Nonetheless, it was solely after the Punjab win that his title got here to the forefront.
Following this, Pathak was chosen to signify the occasion within the Rajya Sabha from Punjab together with 4 others, together with Raghav Chadha and Harbhajan Singh. When Pathak was submitting nomination papers for Rajya Sabha, AAP had tweeted, “He has been working within the background & has been instrumental within the occasion’s victory in Delhi & Punjab.”
Appreciating his position in Punjab elections Anmol Gagan Maan, state tourism minister wrote, “Sandeep Ji performed an distinctive position behind the historic win in Punjab elections. He designed a marketing campaign that assisted AAP to efficiently attain each family in Punjab with its public welfare insurance policies.”
Function in Gujarat
In March, Pathak was appointed Gujarat in-charge and in addition the co-in cost for Himachal Pradesh in June. After constructing an organisation within the hill state forward of the elections in July, Pathak had mentioned: “I had mentioned sangathan aisa banega ki duniya dekhti reh jayegi (we are going to construct an organisation that can impress the world). Our organisation might be a lot stronger than even in Punjab and Delhi.”
Nonetheless, the occasion’s focus quickly shifted to Gujarat, and Himachal was not a precedence. The occasion ended up getting 1.1 per cent vote share in Himachal.
Whereas campaigning in Gujarat in August, making an attempt to capitalise on Hindutva sentiments, Pathak had talked about phrases like ‘Bhagwan’ and ‘Ganesh’ eight instances in an eight-minute speech. He mentioned, “They (BJP) have began their finish. And the Aam Aadmi Celebration has begun its rise. I’ll work 24 hours. I’ll give my life.”
In Gujarat, the occasion managed to get 12.9 per cent vote share and 5 MLAs in its debut election. Arvind Kejriwal known as the occasion’s efficiency in Gujarat constructive and a “huge deal”.
After Pathak was given the brand new position at nationwide degree, Kejriwal wrote, “I congratulate Dr Sandeep Pathak and need him good luck for his new accountability. We’ve got to construct AAP sangthan in each nook and nook of the nation”.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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