‘Not an easy decision for me’: Kailash Gahlot joins BJP day after resigning from AAP over ‘embarrassing controversies’ 

Former AAP leader and Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot joined BJP on November 18, a day after quitting AAP, citing the ‘'sheeshmahal’ controversy was ‘very embarrassing’. 

“I am joining BJP today in the presence of Khattar ji. This was not an easy decision for me. I have been working for AAP and for the people of Delhi since Anna Hazare’s time. Some may think that I made this decision under pressure, but I want to clarify that I have never done anything under anyone’s pressure,” Gahlot said as he joined BJP in the presence of Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and state BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.  

Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, “Today, Delhi’s former minister Kailash Gahlot has joined the BJP. This is a turning point in Delhi’s politics as a senior minister of the Delhi Govt has joined the BJP...I am sure that you must have seen the work of PM Modi and BJP before taking the decision to join BJP. I welcome you to the party...” 

In his single-page resignation letter, Gahlot said the AAP faces grave challenges from within. “Political ambitions have overtaken our commitment towards people, leaving many promises unfulfilled. Take for example the YAMUNA, which we had promised to transform into a clean river, but never got around to doing it. Now the Yamuna River is perhaps even more polluted than ever before,” he wrote.  

AAP's prominent Jat leader and former Delhi transport minister said that apart from this, there were many “embarrassing and awkward controversies like the ‘SHEESHMAHAL’,” which are now making everyone doubt whether we still believe in being the “AAM AADMI”. 

On being asked if former AAP leader Kailash Gahlot is joining BJP, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “He is free, he can go wherever he wants...” 

AAP on November 18 said that its leader Raghuvinder Shokeen will become the new minister of Delhi cabinet. Shokeen is an MLA from Nangloi Jat. He will take charge of the vacant position after Gahlot’s resignation.