Setback for AAP as Gahlot quits

Blow to AAP ahead of Delhi polls Popular Jat leader's exit will likely impact the AAP's prospects in South West Delhi

- Paras Singh

Senior Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot on Sunday quit the Aam Aadmi Party and resigned from the cabinet in a setback for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party months ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Delhi.

In his resignation letter addressed to Kejriwal, Gahlot has cited "grave challenges that the party faces from within", "embarrassing controversies" it is embroiled in and "unfilled promises" made by the party. He also argued that real progress for Delhi cannot happen if the Delhi government spends the majority of its time fighting the Central government.

Gahlot, a popular Jat leader from Najafgarh, the area that he represents in the Delhi assembly, held many important departments such as transport, home, administrative reforms, women and child development and Information Technology.

Gahlot is the third member of the Kejriwal cabinet to have quit the party and the ministerial portfolio. In April, Raaj Kumar Anand, the minister in charge of social welfare and labour and employment, quit the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Anand replaced Rajendra Pal Gautam who had resigned from the party and the cabinet in November 2022.

The AAP holds a comfortable majority with 59 members, including Gahlot, in the 70-member Delhi assembly.

The BJP welcomed Gahlot's resignation, calling it a "brave step forward". It claimed that the resignation reinforces BJP's allegations against the Delhi government. However, the AAP alleged that Gahlot was pressured by the central agencies such as Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate, leaving him no option but to join the BJP.

In a separate one-line letter to chief minister Atishi, Gahlot announced his resignation from the Delhi cabinet. The AAP said that the chief minister has accepted Gahlot's resignation.