Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received a massive setback just months before the Delhi Assembly elections, as senior minister and veteran leader Kailash Gahlot, who had claimed to be Kejriwal’s “Hanuman”, on Sunday resigned from the primary membership of the party and the council of ministers, citing the ‘sheesh mahal’ controversy, and the party unnecessary fighting with the Centre for setting their own political agenda.
With this, four MLAs, including three ministers, have resigned from the AAP - Rajendra Pal Gautam joined the Congress in September, Patel Nagar and Chattarpur MLAs Raaj Kumar Anand and Kartar Singh Tanwar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the Lok Sabha polls. Gahlot is the third minister of the AAP led Delhi government who quitted in the past one-and-half years.
In his resignation letter addressed to AAP’s National Convener Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Gahlot also cited unfulfilled promises and recent controversies as reasons for stepping down. Gahlot has held key positions within the Delhi government, including the portfolios of Transport, Law, Information Technology, Administrative Reforms, and Women and Child Development.
Gahlot pointed to the “grave challenges” facing the party Gahlot, a prominent figure in the party, also took a jab at Kejriwal while flagging some “awkward” and “embarrassing” controversies like ‘sheesh mahal’, saying it makes everyone doubt if “we still believe in being the ‘Aam Aadmi’”. Gahlot’s reference to the ‘sheesh mahal’ controversy comes against the backdrop of BJP leaders’ charge that Kejriwal spent crores on lavish items and modern facilities at his former official residence at 6 Flagstaff Road. The BJP had dubbed Kejriwal’s earlier residence as ‘sheesh mahal’.
Meanwhile, the AAP national convener refused to take a question on Gahlot’s shock resignation at a press conference held at the party office hours after Gahlot’s resignation and promptly turned the microphone towards MLA Durgesh Pathak, seated next to him. When pressed for his response, Kejriwal said with a smile, “You want an answer, right?” before Pathak began speaking. In fact, the former Chief Minister spoke soon
after, criticised the BJP but did not mention Gahlot’s exit.
Holding the BJP responsible, Pathak said Gehlot was being questioned and raided by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax for months. “So he did not have a choice. But this makes it clear that BJP has lost the Delhi election. They have no issue, they are fighting on the basis of ED, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax and we are fighting on people’s issues,” he said.
Earlier, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said Gahlot’s resignation is a part of BJP’s “dirty politics”. “It’s a “dirty political conspiracy of the BJP and it wants to win the Delhi Assembly polls by misusing the ED and CBI”, he charged. On the other hand, the BJP was quick to respond to Gahlot’s announcement. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva welcomed Gahlot’s resignation, saying he took a brave step. “Gahlot stepped down raising the same issues for which the BJP was protesting and fighting against Kejriwal and AAP.
His resignation proves that even the AAP leaders do not consider Kejriwal as an honest politician,” Sachdeva said. Party leader Kapil Mishra welcomed the resignation and said that Gahlot’s remarks in the letter to Kejriwal raise serious questions about the AAP and Delhi government.
Gahlot’s resignation has been accepted by CM Atishi. His exit comes weeks after party Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal turned rebel, although she remains an MP from the party. The senior AAP leader’s resignation comes at a time when the party is gearing up for the Delhi Assembly polls slated to be held in February next year.
After Kejriwal stepped down, Gahlot was among the key contenders for the CM’s post. However, Kejriwal picked Atishi for the top job. Insiders say Kejriwal and his team was not happy with Gahlot for his close proximity with Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena who nominated him to unfurl Tricolour at Chhatrasal stadium on Independence Day this year. Besides, on several occasions, the Delhi Cabinet took decisions without informing him.
In his resignation, Gahlot said, “Another painful point has been the fact that instead of fighting for people’s rights we have increasingly only been fighting for our own 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 majority of its time fighting with the Centre”.
Listing out the challenges that the party faces, Gehlot said:”I 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 towards 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,” the letter read.
Gahlot made it clear that his decision to step away from the party was motivated by his continued desire to serve the people of Delhi, but he felt that his commitment to the AAP’s vision could no longer be reconciled with the party’s current direction. “I had started my political journey with the commitment to serve the people of Delhi and I want to continue doing that.
Which is why, I find myself left with no option but to step away from AAP,” Gahlot concluded.
In March, Gahlot was summoned by the ED in the Delhi excise policy case. However, this was before all AAP leaders and the accused in the case were granted bail. In 2018, several locations linked to Gahlot and his family members were raided by the Income Tax Department, alleging tax evasion worth several crores.
Gahlot 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 vote
