Touted as being the face for the youth, women and Muslims for the BJP, former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Shazia Ilmi joined the party on Friday. However, before deciding on taking the final plunge, Ilmi had a number of inhibitions, especially with the party’s stand on the “conversion row” regarding which she enquired and got a clarification from the BJP top brass. Besides, Ilmi is also authoring a book narrating her experiences with the Arvind Kejriwal led-AAP.
A former journalist and team Anna member, Shazia said that she had several doubts about Ghar Wapsi and forcible conversions before joining the BJP. “I spoke to Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley enquiring about these issues because being a Muslim, it matters to me. I was told very clearly that these are not BJP sponsored or endorsed programmes. They were very clear that the new political discourse had to be about development. That’s why I took part in the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan because this Government is committed to the spirit of transition,” said Ilmi.
Terming her experience with the AAP and her relation with Kejriwal as “traumatic”, Ilmi said, “I am writing about my experiences in the political field. What all happened with me in RK Puram and Ghaziabad has put me off elections. There were terrible times I faced. I was ill-treated in the party. Kejriwal, who was so close to me, later I had to seek time from his personal assistant just to talk to him.”