On Friday, seven MLAs from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stepped down from their primary party membership, only five days before the intense Delhi Assembly elections. Significantly, six of the seven departing lawmakers were refused tickets to run in the forthcoming elections and were said to be unhappy with the party’s choice.
MLAs Bhawna Gaur, Madal Lal cite loss of faith in Kejriwal, Party
Palam MLA Bhawna Gaur wrote to AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, stating that she was resigning due to her loss of faith in him and the party. In the same vein, Madan Lal, the representative from Kasturba Nagar, shared similar feelings.
“I hereby resign from the primary membership of Aam Aadmi Party as I have lost faith in you and the party. Please accept the same,” Bhawna Gaur and Madan Lal wrote in two separate letters.
Trilokpuri MLA Rohit Mehraulia, Janakpuri MLA Rajesh Rishi, Kasturba Nagar MLA Madan Lal, and Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav have also stepped down from their primary membership with the Aam Aadmi Party.
Pawan Sharma of Adarsh Nagar and BS Joon from Bijwasan were the other two AAP lawmakers who departed from Arvind Kejriwal’s party.
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However, Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav was first granted a ticket, but he returned it once the allegations in the Punjab Quran sacrilege case against him were proved. Subsequently, the party substituted him with Mahender Chaudhary. Naresh Yadav finally stepped down on Friday.
The AAP candidate lineup for the Delhi elections features Mukesh Goel representing Adarsh Nagar, Pravin Kumar from Janakpuri, Surendra Bhardwaj of Bijiwasan, Joginder Solanki from Palam, Ramesh Pehlwan of Kasturba Nagar, and Anjana Parcha from Trilokpuri.
The AAP has announced candidates for each of the 70 Assembly seats in Delhi, which are set to vote on February 5. The votes will be counted on February 8.
Arvind Kejriwal’s party aims for a third straight five-year term in Delhi and encounters a tough challenge from the BJP, which has not held power in the capital for the previous 27 years. The Congress is the third significant party in the race.
