One more defector: AAP’s Bijwasan MLA resigns

The AAP’s Bijwasan MLA, Devinder Sehrawat, joined the BJP Monday even as the AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal criticised the saffron party for using money power ahead of May 12, the day the capital goes to polls.

Sehrawat is the second AAP MLA who has defected to the BJP in less than a week. On Friday, AAP’s Gandhi Nagar MLA, Anil Bajpai, quit the party and joined BJP. Bajpai said he was insulted by AAP’s top leaders.

Speaking at a BJP press conference that was organised to officially welcome him in the party fold, Sehrawat said he was sidelined and humiliated by the AAP leadership and its members. “I was part of AAP since its inception. But I was being ignored by the party and not allowed to work in my area. They opened a parallel MLA office and posed hurdles for me to carry out development work,” he said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, alleged that the Modi-led BJP government was “using the proceeds from the Rafale scam to buy AAP MLAs”. “They are doing the same thing in West Bengal. Modiji should tell how many MLAs they are planning to buy,” he said when asked about Sehrawat exiting AAP.

Reacting to Kejriwal’s statement, Union minister Vijay Goel said “it is strange that the CM starts making allegation when his MLAs join BJP. Their northwest Delhi candidate, Guggan Singh, was in the BJP. Did we say that AAP had bought him? We respect people even if they are no longer with our party,” he said.

AAP’s spokesperson and Greater Kailash MLA, Saurabh Bhardwaj, said the two MLAs should resign as members of the sixth legislative assembly of Delhi. “The AAP will not allow any defector to remain an MLA and the party is ready with disqualification pleas. Defectors should be ready to face the electorate,” he said.

Welcoming Sehrawat into the party, Goel and BJP MLA, Vijender Gupta, said AAP is a sinking ship. “In total, 14 AAP MLAs are in touch with BJP. This included Bajpai and Sehrawat. The AAP is a sinking ship and there is a great difference between what they say and do. This is why the MLAs are deserting the party. Sehrawat is one of the founders of AAP who was suffocating due to Kejriwal’s political selfishness,” Goel said.

Sehrawat said the AAP had stopped inviting him to events in his constituency, started after he opposed the party’s decision to oust Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. “I didn’t like what happened with Bhushan and Yadav. The party insulted me, but I took it in my stride and continued working for the development of my area,” he said.