Two members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) joined th Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi on Sunday. BJP leader Ramesh Pehalwan and his wife Kusumlata Ramesh joined the party in the presence of Arvind Kejriwal, the party’s national convenor.
This development comes ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, which are expected to be held in early 2025.
Soon after he joined the party, Pehalwan was named the AAP nominee from the Kasturba Nagar assembly segment from where his wife has contesting for BJP. On Wednesday, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal ruled out any possibility of an alliance with the Congress.
In a post on X, Kejriwal said, “Aam Aadmi Party will be fighting this election on its own strength in Delhi. There is no possibility of any alliance with Congress.”
Earlier on December 7, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Devendra Yadav had criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, for being responsible for the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the national capital.
Devendra Yadav also demanded that Kejriwal should ask for the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, the same way he asked for the resignation of former CM Shiela Dixit during the Nirbhaya case. The Delhi Congress president further alleged that the women are facing the brunt of increasing crimes, including gang wars, firing, murder, rape, harassment and snatching incidents.
On Friday, AAP released its third candidates’ list for Delhi Assembly elections 2025 and fielded Tarun Yadav from Delhi’s Najafgarh Assembly.
The party has already released its second list. In its second list of candidates, the Aam Aadmi Party has dropped 17 sitting MLAs, opting to replace them with new faces.
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However, three familiar names have been re-nominated: Manish Sisodia and Rakhi Birla, both current MLAs, along with Deepu Chaudhary, a former candidate who lost in the previous election.
Congress, which was in power in Delhi for 15 successive years, has performed poorly in the past two assembly polls, failing to win any seat.
AAP won 62 out of the 70 seats in the 2020 assembly elections and BJP secured eighth seats.
