Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pravesh Ratn, who unsuccessfully contested the Patel Nagar reserved constituency in the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday. Ratn, who belongs to the Jatav community, joined the AAP in the presence of senior leaders Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak at the party's headquarters. Ratn has previously held key positions in the BJP and contested from the Patel Nagar Assembly constituency. This marks the fourth major entry from the BJP to AAP in recent days. Earlier, on November 17, Anil Jha, a two-time MLA from Delhi's Kirari Assembly constituency, three-time MLA Brahm Singh Tanwar from Chhatarpur, and B.B. Tyagi, a two-time councilor, former Standing Committee Chairman, from Laxmi Nagar, also left BJP to join AAP with their supporters.

The move comes months after AAP leader and former MLA from Patel Nagar Raaj Kumar Anand joined the BJP. Anand resigned as minister in the Delhi government and quit AAP in April. He was later disqualified as MLA by the Delhi Assembly Speaker. In July, Anand joined the BJP alongwith another AAP MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar.

Ratn who contested the 2020 Delhi polls as a BJP candidate was defeated by Anand by over 30,000 votes. In the Assembly polls due in February 2025, the two leaders may be again pitted against one another as candidates of their new parties.

Senior AAP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia officially welcomed Parvesh Ratn into the AAP by presenting him with the party patka and cap.

Ratn, while addressing the gathering began by expressing his gratitude to Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, whom he credited as the driving force behind his decision.

Ratn said he was inspired by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and the way he helped people, especially those belonging to the weaker sections, save money because of free facilities provided by the AAP government.

"The community from which I come has immense love for Arvind Kejriwal. I am not happy with the working style of the Delhi state BJP. I am here now and will stay here," he said.