Former AAP legislator joins BJP in Delhi

Ahead of the assembly polls in Delhi, former AAP MLA Sukhbir Singh Dalal joined the BJP on Saturday.

The Mundka ex-MLA joined the BJP at its Delhi office in the presence of city unit chief Virendra Sachdeva, Union minister Harsh Malhotra, and Ashish Sood.

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Six-time Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee member Sardar Balbir Singh also joined the saffron party.

He was appointed secretary of the Delhi BJP by Sachdeva.

Dalal claimed that he spearheaded the sports university project as an MLA but not a single brick was laid despite several years having passed.

He accused AAP of deviating from its anti-corruption promise while lauding the BJP's initiatives in Delhi's rural belts.

The Delhi BJP's media head Praveen Shankar Kapoor, former MLA Nitin Tyagi and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) councillor Behn Preeti were also present at the joining ceremony.

Sachdeva criticised AAP for only making "false promises" about the sports university, saying appointments had been made on paper and funds disbursed but no physical progress was visible.

He further emphasised that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre ensured that any project inaugurated was also completed under its tenure.

Sachdeva lauded Singh and Dalal for their reputation among Delhi's Punjabi and rural communities, respectively.

Union minister Malhotra said the AAP government had failed to deliver on its promises and people who once believed in the party's anti-corruption plank were leaving it.

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He also accused former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of betraying the trust of these people, forcing them to quit AAP in frustration.

Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are due in February.