On Saturday, the Bharatiya Janata Party appointed former AAP leader and minister Kailash Gahlot to the Delhi Assembly Election Coordination Committee. On November 17, Kailash Gahlot resigned as Delhi Transport Minister and also from AAP and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the next day.
Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva made the appointment with the approval of the party’s senior leadership. Gahlot also met Union Health Minister and BJP chief JP Nadda on Friday and discussed the preparations for Delhi assembly polls, which are expected early next year. Gahlot described it as a “courtesy meeting”.
“During the discussion, guidance was received on various issues related to the organization and public service,” Kailash Gahlot said in a post in Hindi on X. “It was also discussed during the meeting that a BJP government should be formed in Delhi so that the national capital gets world-class development and people get very good public services,” he said.
After joining the BJP, former AAP leader and minister Kailash Gahlot said that he mustered “Courage” to quit after seeing the party’s values and principles diluted over a prolonged period.
Speaking to ANI, Gahlot said, “It doesn’t happen overnight, it happens over a prolonged period. It takes time to understand a few things. I am repeating this again and again, stating that we are connected to some values and principles. If we see some dilution in the same, I think I mustered the courage to quit. There are several others like me who are unable to muster courage. I think they will continue.”
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released the first list of 11 candidates for the Delhi assembly elections. The party named candidates for constituencies including Chhatarpur, Kiradi, Vishwas Nagar, Rohtash Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Badarpur, Seelampur, Seemapuri, Ghonda, Karawal Nagar, and Matiala seats. In the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls, AAP won 62 out of the 70 seats, while the BJP managed to win only eight seats.
