Just a few days after switching over to the Bharatiya Janata Party, former Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Bawana and Delhi Councillor Ram Chander returned to the AAP on Thursday. Claiming that he was "tricked" into joining the BJP, he said that he managed to return as his party leadership convinced him to. But Chander says that Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal played a major role in bringing him back to AAP.
The AAP Councillor from Ward No. 28 said that Kejriwal was the one who influenced his decision to rejoin AAP as he came in his dream to persuade him. "I am a small soldier of the Aam Aadmi Party. I made a wrong decision, but I have returned to my family. Last night, our Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) came in my dream and reprimanded me, saying, 'Ram Chander, get up and meet Manish (Sisodia), Gopal Rai, Sandeep (Pathak), and all the leaders. Go and meet your workers in the area and work," he said, as per a report by India Today.
Regretting his brief stint with the BJP, Chander said: "I will never stray from the AAP again because of Chief Minister’s words. I am taking an oath today that I will not be misled by anyone in the future." The sitting councillor also said in his statement that he contacted senior AAP leadership including former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Sandeep Pathak, and Sanjay Singh to express his desire to return to AAP as soon as he realised his mistake.
On Thursday, Chander joined the AAP once again in the presence of Sisodia and was officially welcomed by the party leaders. "Joining the BJP was a big mistake, but now I am back with my family and ready to correct it," Ram Chander stated.
Welcoming Chander back into the party fold, Sisodia shared a post on X that said: "I met our old AAP colleague and former Bawana MLA Ram Chander. Today he has returned to his Aam Aadmi family."
On Sunday, Chander and four other AAP councillors had quit their party and switched to the BJP in a major setback to the AAP ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls slated to be held in 2025. However, today, all five of them returned to AAP. Besides Chander, the other leaders who returned include Pawan Sehrawat from Bawana Ward No. 30, Sugandha Bidhuri from Ward No. 178 in Tughlaqabad, Manju Nirmal from Badarpur Ward No. 180, and Mamata Pawan representing Ward No. 177 in Harkesh Nagar.