- Rajesh Gupta, two-time AAP MLA, joined BJP ahead of Delhi civic polls
- Gupta criticized Kejriwal for treating party workers as disposable assets
- Delhi BJP president Sachdeva welcomed Gupta and praised his MLA record
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and two-time MLA Rajesh Gupta joined the BJP on Saturday ahead of the civic polls. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva welcomed him into the party.
Gupta criticised AAP national convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who he alleged considered party workers as "use and throw" objects. It is the biggest reason behind the party's downfall, he added.
Gupta even became emotional as he recalled his contributions to the AAP and the ill-treatment that he got from Kejriwal in return.
He said when the AAP was founded, many prominent individuals enthusiastically joined Kejriwal, but he betrayed everyone. "One by one, they all chose to leave him. Today, unfortunately, I have also joined that list," Gupta said.
He got upset after a municipal election ticket was given to a person to whom the AAP had itself issued notice earlier.
Sachdeva welcomed Gupta into the party by offering the traditional party stole in the presence of MLA Rajkumar Bhatia and media head Praveen Shankar Kapoor. The Delhi BJP chief said Gupta created a distinct identity for himself as a responsible MLA, but Kejriwal failed to value his contribution.
He said the way Kejriwal is missing from Delhi and the circumstances under which he left demand close examination.
Sachdeva said the AAP has pushed Delhi into such a poor situation over the last 12 years that its burden has now fallen upon the new government.
The BJP government is making efforts to gradually reduce this burden, he added, but Kejriwal, who calls himself Delhi's son, has completely disappeared because he knows Delhi has now seen his true face.
"Just as Aurangzeb plundered Delhi, Kejriwal, Sisodia and other senior AAP leaders have also harmed the city. After looting and indulging in corruption, AAP leaders are now comfortably settled in Punjab," Sachdeva added.
The AAP leader's induction into the BJP comes just a day before the civic by-elections.
As many as 53 candidates are in the fray for the 12 seats for which the Municipal Corporation of Delhi by-elections will be held. The BJP held nine out of the 12 vacant wards where the by-election is scheduled.
The by-elections have assumed significance for the BJP as these are the first political contest in the city since the party returned to power after 27 years in the assembly elections in February.
Some experts are calling the by-elections a virtual referendum on Chief Minister Rekha Gupta government's nine-month performance.
