Eight outgoing AAP MLAs have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just days ahead of the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections.
The eight legislators, who resigned from the primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday, cited reasons such as alleged corruption and the party's deviation from its ideology. Reportedly, all of them were denied election tickets by AAP this time.
The MLAs who have switched allegiance to the BJP include 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 AAP, they also submitted their resignation letters to the Assembly Speaker, formally relinquishing their membership in the House.
In addition to the MLAs, former AAP MLA Vijender Garg and several other leaders from the Kejriwal-led party joined the BJP in the presence of Baijayant Panda, the national vice-president of BJP and in-charge of Delhi BJP, along with state president Virendra Sachdeva.
Welcoming the new members to the party, Panda described the day as "historic," stating that they have rid themselves of "AAPda" (disaster), and expressed hope that after the February 5 elections, Delhi too will be freed from the party’s influence.
The 70-member Delhi Assembly elections are set to take place on February 5, with results expected to be declared on February 8.