Journalist-turned-politician Ashish Khetan, the latest among prominent Aam Aadmi Party leaders to quit the group, has said his move was "a personal decision" to step away from electoral politics. He is not joining any other outfit just yet and hopes to join academics or even journalism now, he said.
Speaking to NDTV, the 42-year-old said that he had been thinking about the move for more than a year now.
"For the last 1-1.5 years, I was having self-doubts about my own journey whether I want to stay in electoral politics in the future. And I decided that at this point in my life I don't want to go any deeper into electoral politics. And return to academics maybe even journalism at some point. And focus on law. This is why I decided to quit the party," he said.
Mr Khetan also said that the party even offered him a ticket to contest Lok Sabha elections next year but eventually decided that his time in politics was up.
"I have only got love and respect from the party. When I was leaving, the party asked me many times to fight Lok Sabha elections and I told them I won't be able to do so... at this point I don't think politics is my path anymore," he said.
But he denied that there was a wider disenchantment within the AAP that was driving many high-profile members away.
"When I joined the party, it was 90 per cent a revolution and 10 per cent a party... [but] a revolution cannot last forever. All parties that have come out of a revolution have eventually had to come to politics," Mr Khetan said.
Mr Khetan announced his resignation from the party earlier this week, days after another leader Ashutosh declared his exit. Like him, Ashutosh was also counted among the closest aides of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a member of AAP's top leadership.
"I can only speak for myself. Ashutosh will be able to explain better why he left... I come from a middle class family. Ashutosh also comes from a middle class family. We have to run our homes, pay for our children's educations, pay EMIs," he said.
So is he joining the Congress or any other party?
"I can't say what will happen but I am not interested in joining party politics. I make it a point to never say never but I haven't spoken to anybody or made any plans," he said.
Arvind Kejriwal To Leave Jail Today, Probe Agency Challenges His Bail "BJP's Conspiracy, Probe Agency Has No Proof": AAP After Arvind Kejriwal Gets Bail Arvind Kejriwal's First Comments On Swati Maliwal Assault Row Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Trump Says Spoke With Zelensky, Pledges To "End The War" Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign Wife Among Two Jailed For Life For Man's Murder In Gurugram: Cops Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.