In a blow to the AAP, its senior leader and Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot quit the party on Sunday.
Gahlot, a prominent figure in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), cited recent controversies facing the party and unfulfilled promises.
In his letter to Chief Minister Atishi, Gahlot, the MLA from Najafgarh, tendered his resignation from the council of ministers with immediate effect.
In a separate letter to AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, which was shared on X, Gahlot also tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the party.
Gahlot claimed the party was facing “embarrassing and awkward” controversies like “Sheshmahal”, a reference to Kejriwal’s former residence.
Listing out the challenges that the party faces, Gehlot said: “I also want to share with you that today the Aam Aadmi Party faces grave challenges. Challenges from within, to the very values that brought us together to AAP. Political ambitions have overtaken our commitment to 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.”
“Apart from this, now there are many embarrassing and awkward controversies like the ‘SHEESHMAHAL’, which are now making everyone doubt whether we still believe in being the AAM AADMI,” he added.
He alleged that instead of fighting for the rights of the people, the AAP was busy fighting for its agenda which has crippled the delivery of basic services in Delhi.
“Another painful point has been the fact that instead of fighting for people’s rights we have increasingly only been fighting for our political agenda. This has severely crippled our ability to even deliver basic services to the people of Delhi. It is now obvious that real progress for Delhi cannot happen if the Delhi Government spends the majority of its time fighting with the Centre,” the letter read.
No immediate reaction was available from the AAP over the setback and the issues raised by Gahlot.
Gahlot, 50, is a Jat leader who is from the Mitraon village in Delhi. He is one of the rare AAP politicians who was born and brought up in Delhi. He joined the AAP before the 2015 Assembly elections and won the Najafgarh seat by a thin margin of 1,550 votes. He would go on to win the seat again in 2020 by over 6,000 votes.
