Eight outgoing Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) joined the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday at a time when the political landscape is set to drastically change with assembly elections being held just over the next few days.
Those who resigned were MLAs within the AAP, and they resigned on Friday, accusing the party of corruption and having abandoned its core principles. But when denied election tickets, the discontent with the party became even worse and they had no option but to switch allegiance.
The MLAs cited as reasons for quitting the party worried that it had departed from its founding ideology and blamed internal mismanagement. For them to have switched to the BJP is big in the run-up to the high-stakes Delhi election where both the ruling AAP and the BJP are stepping up their campaigns.
The bulk of AAP leaders leaving for the other parties is counted as a severe blow to the party that had such a large majority in the Delhi Assembly. However, the leadership of the Aap has played down the defections, saying that the party had no intention of shedding its commitment to transparency, honesty, and the public interest.
The BJP has welcomed the defections by the MLAs with open arms saying their experience and leadership will help the party campaign for the election. More importantly, the political dynamics in Delhi have become even more competitive as both the AAP and BJP vie for the seats in the February 5 polls.
Coming as they did with so many high-profile defections, combined with the nature of the Delhi election, this has also injected new momentum into the campaign for this vote, which will have even more significance for both parties.
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