8 AAP MLAs quit party days before Delhi election. Who are they?

Eight Aam Aadmi party (AAP) legislators, who were denied tickets to contest the upcoming Delhi assembly election, resigned from the Arvind Kejriwal-led party on Friday.

The eight MLAs who quit AAP are: Girish Soni (Madipur), Rohit Mehraulia from Trilokpura, Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar), Rajesh Rishi (Janakpuri), Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli), Bhavna Gaur (Palam), Pawan Kumar Sharma (Adarsh Nagar) and BS Joon (Bijwasan).

The Kejriwal-led party is contesting all 70 seats in the national capital, which will go to polls on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8.

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AAP dropped 20 incumbent MLAs from its list for the 2025 Delhi election and instead fielded turncoats from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in some constituencies.

The 8 MLAs who quit AAP

Girish Soni: The incumbent MLA from Madipur constituency, dropped by AAP ahead of the Delhi polls, cited in his X post that the activities going on within the party have been a "subject of criticism" for a long time now, raising question marks like "Sheeshmahal".

"After this, are we really common people?" he asked and said, "Being shocked by all these issues, today I am resigning from all the responsibilities of Aam Aadmi Party and from the primary membership of Aam Aadmi Party."

Rohit Kumar Mehraulia: The MLA from Trilokpuri assembly constituency, resigned from all the position and the primary membership of the Kejriwal-led party, citing "unfulfilled promises" to uplift the Dalit/Valmiki community.

Mehraulia accused the party of "exploiting" his community for political gains, failing to address problems related to employment. The leader had supported AAP's rise to power in the capital.

Madan Lal: The Kasturba constituency MLA resigned the party after being snubbed of a ticket in the upcoming polls. He said that he lost faith in AAP and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

Bhavna Gaur: The Palam seat MLA resigned from the party and its primary membership, saying that she has "lost faith in you (Arvind Kejriwal) and the party". She shared a picture of her written resignation letter in a post on X.

Rajesh Rishi: The AAP legislator from the Janakpuri constituency resigned from all positions and primary membership of the Kejriwal-led party. He accused the party of abandoning the very founding principles it is built on, of corruption-free governance, transparency and accountability.

Pawan Kumar Sharma: The MLA from Adarsh Nagar constituency, in his resignation, said that the party has stirred away from the honest ideology on the basis of which it was formed. "I am very sad to see the plight of The Aam Aadmi Party. Please accept my resignation," Sharma said.

BS June: Bhupender Singh June, the Bijwasan constituency MLA, also quit from the Aam Aadmi Party completely, citing "significant deviation" from the values and principles the party was built on. He said that over time, the "party has increasingly exhibited traits of centralization, opacity, and a lack of internal democracy".

Naresh Yadav: Naresh Yadav, the legislator from the Mehrauli constituency, said that the main reason for his resignation was "corruption". Speaking to news agency ANI, Yadav said, "The way AAP has been fully immersed in corruption, AAP emerged from Anna Hazare's agitation, we only had one motive, we had to eliminate corruption from Delhi and then the whole country and make India corruption free, this was my thought when I joined AAP."

(with ANI inputs)