15 Delhi councillors quit AAP, form 'Indraprastha Vikas Party'
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New Delhi: In a significant blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), fifteen municipal councillors in Delhi have resigned from the party and announced the formation of a new political entity named the 'Indraprastha Vikas Party'.
The new party will be led by Hemchand Goel, with several prominent former AAP leaders playing key roles in the split, including Mukesh Goel, Himani Jain, Devindra Kumar, Rajesh Kumar Ladi, Suman Anil Rana, Dinesh Bhardwaj, Runakshi Sharma, Manisha, Sahib Kumar, Rakhi Yadav, Usha Sharma, and Ashok Pandey. Notably, Mukesh Goel’s departure is particularly impactful, as he was the Leader of the House for AAP in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Speaking about the decision, Goel stated that the new party was formed because they were unable to carry out public work over the past one to two years, attributing this to frequent disruptions that prevented the smooth functioning of the House. He also indicated that more councillors might join the new party. Mukesh Goel had contested the February Delhi Assembly elections on an AAP ticket but was unsuccessful.
The list of resigning councillors includes thirteen names, with two others absent at the time of the announcement, thus, their names and signatures were not included.
The councillors submitted a joint resignation letter stating that although they were elected in 2022 on the AAP ticket, the party’s top leadership failed to manage the Delhi Municipal Corporation effectively after assuming power. They cited negligible coordination between the leadership and municipal councillors as a major reason for the party’s decline into opposition status.
The letter further explained that since they were unable to fulfill the promises made to the public, the councillors were resigning from the party’s primary membership.
This fresh wave of resignations adds to a series of setbacks for AAP within the MCD. In February, the BJP became the single largest party in the civic body after three AAP councillors—Anita Basoya (Andrews Ganj), Nikhil Chaprana (Hari Nagar), and Dharmveer Singh (RK Puram)—defected to the BJP. A similar defection took place in September last year, when three AAP councillors switched to the BJP just before a crucial standing committee election.
Amid ongoing defections, AAP recently withdrew from the mayoral race scheduled for April 25, effectively clearing the way for BJP to assume control of the MCD.
With IANS inputs
