New Delhi: Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi’s former transport minister Kailash Gahlot, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday, said he had not taken the decision under any “pressure” due to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as claimed by the AAP leaders.
BJP leaders claim that Gahlot’s entry into the party is “only the beginning” and many more AAP leaders are in touch with the BJP leadership.
AAP’s former councillor from North West Delhi’s Bankner, Ram Narayan Bhardwaj, joined the BJP last week. Senior West Delhi politician Harsharan Singh Balli also returned to the BJP after four years in the AAP last week. In August, five AAP councillors had joined the BJP.
Election-time defections are not a new phenomenon. Many leaders are expected to switch their loyalties in the run up to the Delhi elections early next year.
“This is not an easy decision for me… I was a part of the AAP since the time of Anna Hazare…Honestly speaking some may think this is an overnight decision… or due to pressure… Even as an MLA or a minister, I’ve never done anything because of any pressure and those who are trying to build a narrative that I’ve done this because of ED or CBI pressure, or fear is completely wrong, and I strongly refute it,” Gahlot said.
Criticising the AAP government’s approach in dealing with the Centre, Gahlot said development cannot take place if one continues to be at loggerheads. “Real development can happen only under a BJP government.”
In his resignation letter addressed to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Gahlot had cited unfulfilled promises and recent controversies as the reason for quitting the party. Gahlot, the MLA from Najafgarh and a former aide of Kejriwal, resigned from the Council of Ministers on Sunday. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi later accepted his resignation.
Gahlot’s joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister ML Khattar, BJP MP and Delhi incharge Baijayant Panda, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, among others.
“The confidence of the Aam Aadmi Party has been shattered. It has not fulfilled any promise till date, the people of Delhi have made up their mind that they will bring BJP to power in Delhi,” Panda said.
The BJP has been out of power in Delhi since 1998 and sees this election as a ‘golden opportunity’ to come to power.
“Many more leaders will join the BJP in the coming few days. They have been in touch with us for quite some time. Many are unhappy with the way the party and the government has been functioning,” a senior BJP functionary told ThePrint.
“You will see an exodus from the AAP soon..it has already started. There is huge anti-incumbency against the government, and many AAP leaders say that their suggestions are simply ignored by the senior leaders.”
Later, an AAP insider sought to play down the claim of the BJP functionary, saying that many BJP leaders have in fact joined the ruling party in the past few days. “Many more will do so in the future.”
Meanwhile, the BJP is preparing to try to corner the AAP over pollution in the national capital. Pollution will be the focus of its ‘Parivartan Yatra’ in Delhi scheduled for next month.
(Edited by Tony Rai)