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Just days ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, seven sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs resigned from the party, citing allegations of "growing corruption" and a "deviation from core values." The legislators, who were denied tickets for the upcoming polls, announced their decision on Monday.
The MLAs who resigned include Bhavna Gaur (Palam), Bhupinder Singh Joon (Bijwasan), Pawan Sharma (Adarsh Nagar), Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar), Rajesh Rishi (Janakpuri), Rohit Kumar Mehrolia (Trilokpuri), and Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli). Notably, Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav was convicted in November 2023 and sentenced to two years in prison by a Punjab court in connection with the 2016 Quran desecration case. AAP had initially announced his candidature despite the conviction but later replaced him with Mahender Chaudhary in December.
Madan Lal, who was replaced by Ramesh Pehelwan in Kasturba Nagar, stated, "I lost faith in Arvind Kejriwal and the party… The party which was formed with the promise to wipe out corruption in Delhi today is committing corruption… We had to resign one day… The seven of us discussed among ourselves and decided to tender our resignation today as we thought it was the perfect time."
He further hinted at the possibility of joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying, "There is no point in joining Congress… If the BJP invites us with respect and honour, we may join."
When asked whether being denied tickets played a role in their resignation, Lal responded, "You can say it was one of the reasons because the party removed those who worked for their constituency but gave tickets to candidates with criminal backgrounds and multiple FIRs against them… They dropped over 20 MLAs and new candidates are not doing well, they are not going to win… They took money in exchange for tickets… We don’t want to be in a corrupt party, thinking only about its political ambition and not the people."
In his resignation letter addressed to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Lal wrote, "I hereby resign from the primary membership of the AAP as I have lost faith in you and the party…"
A senior AAP leader dismissed concerns over the resignations, stating, "The party dropped these MLAs and others, including senior members like Dilip Pandey and Ram Niwas Goel, due to increased anti-incumbency."
In 2024, former ministers Rajendra Pal Gautam, Kailash Gahlot, and Raj Kumar Anand, along with Chhatarpur MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar, also quit AAP, citing similar concerns over corruption and a departure from the party’s founding principles. Gautam subsequently joined Congress, while Anand, Gahlot, and Tanwar switched to BJP and are contesting from Karol Bagh, Bijwasan, and Chhatarpur, respectively.
Also Read: Rahul Gandhi’s Big Revelation: “Congress Lost the Trust of Dalits Since the 90s”