Reportedly when switching sides has been a practice in political parties for ages that becomes more prominent around election time and the aam aadmi party (AAP) is no different. On Sunday, party leader Kailash Gahlot quit his cabinet post and the AAP. The party was not surprised but said Gahlot was under pressure from the bjp as he was facing investigations from central agencies. The AAP, on Anand’s exit too, had said he was under pressure from investigative agencies. anand first went to the Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) in May and, weeks later, joined the bjp in July. The same day in July, AAP’s Chhatarpur mla Kartar Singh Tanwar also joined the saffron party.
Meanwhile joining the list was Dalit leader Rajendra Pal gautam who was a cabinet minister in Delhi. gautam resigned from the cabinet in october 2022 amid allegations of attending a mass conversion event. In september 2024, he left the party and joined the Congress. The AAP will aim for a third complete term after its back-to-back landslide victories in 2015 and 2020 when the party bagged more than 60 seats out of 70 in delhi assembly.
Moreover on the other hand, the bjp, which has been out of power in the city since 1998, will also try hard to win the city back. While the decision of its MLAs and ministers to switch sides may damage the party’s prospects in the 2025 polls, the party is busy celebrating the arrival of bjp leaders into its fold. Earlier this month, three-time South delhi mla Brahm Singh Tanwar and former Laxmi nagar councillor BB Tyagi also joined the AAP from BJP.
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