Major Blow To AAP In Delhi: Ex-Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam Joins Congress

AAP MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam resigned and joined Congress ahead of Delhi Assembly Elections next year.

Former AAP Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam (Image: X/Congress)

Source : (Source:X)

In a major blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), former Delhi Minister and its sitting MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam joined the Congress on Friday (September 6). The move came after the Seemapuri MLA resigned from AAP saying he wanted to intensify the struggle for social justice.

Gautam joined the Congress in the presence of the party's general secretary KC Venugopal, the party's Delhi chief Devender Yadav and party leader Pawan Khera. On joining Congress, he said that amid a rise in a religious frenzy in the last decade, Leader Of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's slogan of 'Main nafrat ke baazar mein mohabbat ki dukaan kholne aaya hoon' touched his heart.

"Unfortunately, we can see a rise in religious and caste frenzy in the last 10 years. Riots are breaking out and Dalits, backwards and minorities are being oppressed. At such a time, Rahul Gandhi gave a slogan during Bharat Jodo Yatra - Main nafrat ke baazar mein mohabbat ki dukaan kholne aaya hoon. That slogan touched my heart. He said that Constitution has to be saved and taking forward social justice in the country, every section should get their representation as per their population...My struggle has always been that everyone should get their representation and honour. He (Arvind Kejriwal) gave me the opportunity and I became an MLA twice. I express gratitude to him for this but my fight is somewhere else - on the issue of social justice, on caste-based census, on representation, AAP maintains silence on these issues...It hurt me...," he said.

कांग्रेस की विचारधारा से प्रभावित होकर श्री @AdvRajendraPal, भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस में शामिल हुए।

आपका स्वागत और भविष्य के लिए शुभकामनाएं। pic.twitter.com/UZVUHeiQc6

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 6, 2024

Earlier, Gautam announced his resignation on social media platform X. "In order to accelerate the struggle for social justice and participation and involvement of Bahujan Samaj in all fields, I am resigning from all the posts and membership of the Aam Aadmi Party. Jai Bheem!" he wrote in Hindi.

सामाजिक न्याय व सभी क्षेत्रों में बहुजन समाज की हिस्सेदारी तथा भागेदारी के संघर्ष को गतिमान करने के लिए मैं आम आदमी पार्टी के सभी पदों व सदस्यता से इस्तीफ़ा दे रहा हूँ !
जय भीम ! pic.twitter.com/vzwfO8mCHB

— (समण) Rajendra Pal Gautam (@AdvRajendraPal) September 6, 2024

Gautam was in the Delhi cabinet in 2015 and held the portfolios of Water, Tourism, Culture, Arts and Languages. He resigned as social welfare minister in October 2022 after he kicked off a political storm over his alleged remarks against Hindu gods and goddesses.

His resignation from AAP came at a time when elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are due early next year.  It also coincided with reports of talks between the two parties to form an alliance ahead of the Haryana assembly elections, discussions for which are expected to be held after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walks out of jail.