Marking a major political turn, the former Transport Minister of Delhi and senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, Kailash Gahlot, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was inducted in the presence of Union Ministers ML Khattar and Harsh Malhotra, who termed this induction a “turning point” before the polls due in February.
Gahlot, who has been associated with AAP since its inception during the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement, justified in a statement the intricacy of his decision thus: “This is not an easy step for me. I have worked for Delhi throughout my tenure as MLA and minister.” He said his decision was not taken under duress, forcefully discarding allegations that investigative agencies forced him to resign.
Addressing a press conference, Gahlot denied that he quit because any investigating agencies such as the CBI or Enforcement Directorate “made” him do so. “I have never acted under pressure since 2015,” he declared and held AAP responsible for losing its ideals for “political ambitions.”
This comes after allegations by AAP and other opposition parties that the BJP government used central investigative agencies in order to harass opposition leaders, especially during election time. BJP denies all these allegations and accuses CBI and ED of operating independently.
Whereas many people considered Gahlot’s resignation a reaction to the tumbling credibility of AAP, some former colleagues even hinted that he yielded to external pressures. If that were not enough, Arvind Kejriwal, the chief of the AAP political party, has so far not made any public comments on Gahlot’s departure and instead asked questions related to it to be referred to senior party member Durgesh Pathak during a recent event.
The Gahlot entry into BJP also comes less than three months ahead of a high-stakes Assembly election which promises to be a direct fight between his former party and the BJP.
The relations between Gahlot and the AAP, particularly Kejriwal, have been stormy in the last many months. Once considered a close friend, especially during his legal battles related to the liquor policy scandal, the wrangle between him and Kejriwal-boss AAP started emerging as serious immediately after he was removed as Law Minister last December, which many considered the turning point in their friendship.
One such stark incident that reflected this crack was over who would hoist the national flag in Delhi on Independence Day. While Kejriwal, being in jail, had left the task to be performed by Atishi, the final work order came from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena, to Gahlot, who performed the task without any conciliatory comments aimed at Kejriwal or Atishi.
He represented the Nazafgarh Assembly constituency since 2015 and his quitting AAP is seen as an important development in the run-up to Delhi’s Assembly elections.
