AAP MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO
Two days after winning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections on Congress tickets, Sabila Begum and Nazia Khatoon, along with the vice-president of the Congress’s Delhi unit Ali Mehdi, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday.
The BJP accused AAP of running “Operation Loot”, while the Congress offered no response to the development. Earlier this year, AAP had accused the BJP of poaching its MLAs in Delhi and Punjab through “Operation Lotus”.
“I heartily welcome them to the Aam Aadmi Party. We will work more strongly and effectively in the MCD with their cooperation,” AAP in-charge of MCD, Durgesh Pathak said welcoming the Congress leaders into his party.
With these two councillors — Sabila Begum, who won from the Mustafabad ward, and Nazia Khatoon, who won from the Brij Puri ward — AAP’s strength in the municipal House has increased to 136, while the Congress is now left with just seven councillors. The BJP has 104 councillors in the 250-member House.
Responding to the development, Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said: “The people of Delhi are today amazed to see that AAP leaders, who till yesterday were expressing fear of ‘Operation Lotus’, have today themselves started ‘Operation Loot’ against a decimated Congress. It is regrettable that those who are themselves indulging in political loot, level allegations against the BJP.”
In his victory speech at the party headquarters on Wednesday, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sought the cooperation of all parties, including the Congress and the BJP, and the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make Delhi “the city of our dreams”.
“As Arvind Kejriwal has said, we want to make Delhi one of the best cities in the world. For this purpose, we require the support of everyone in Delhi. We need the support of the public and the workers of all political parties,” Mr. Pathak said.
On Wednesday night, after the MCD results were announced, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia accused the BJP of trying to poach its newly-elected councillors.
