New Delhi, Feb 1: In a boost to the BJP just four days ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, eight outgoing AAP MLAs joined the party, along with a large number of supporters, on Saturday. The MLAs resigned from the primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday, citing reasons like alleged corruption and the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit’s deviation from its ideology.
All the eight legislators were denied poll tickets by the AAP this time.
The MLAs who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are Vandana Gaur (Palam), Rohit Mehraulia (Trilokpuri), Girish Soni (Madipur), Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar), Rajesh Rishi (Uttam Nagar), B S Joon (Bijwasan), Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli) and Pawan Sharma (Adarsh Nagar).
After resigning from the AAP, they said they had also sent their resignation letters to the Assembly speaker, relinquishing their membership of the House.
The former AAP MLAs said being denied poll tickets is a common thing in politics but as party workers, they were “deeply hurt” to see that tickets were not distributed among dedicated workers, but were instead “sold” to the “highest bidders”, according to a statement issued by the Delhi BJP.
The AAP said in a statement that it has several able and well-educated candidates aspiring for poll tickets. Some incumbent MLAs were denied tickets this time, leading to “dissatisfaction”, it added.
“For the past few weeks, BJP members have been constantly approaching AAP MLAs who did not get tickets this time, luring them with various offers — promising positions, power and incentives,” the party said.
Former AAP MLA Vijender Garg and several other leaders of the Kejriwal-led party, including Palam councillor Ajay Rai, too joined the BJP in the presence of Baijayant Panda, its national vice-president and the in-charge of the party’s Delhi unit, and state president Virendra Sachdeva.
AAP MLA ‘attacked’ during rally
Meanwhile, AAP MLA Mohinder Goyal was allegedly assaulted during a public rally in the Rohini area here on Saturday with party chief Arvind Kejriwal accusing the BJP of indulging in “hooliganism” in the face of an imminent defeat in the February 5 Assembly polls. (PTI)
