Rajendra Pal Gautam Resigns from AAP, Moves to Congress with Social Justice Focus
New Delhi, 6th September 2024: Former Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam has resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the Congress party ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections. Gautam’s switch to Congress was announced on Friday in the presence of Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, Delhi Chief Devender Yadav, and Congress leader Pawan Khera.
Devender Yadav welcomed Gautam’s move, stating, “We are pleased to have Rajendra Pal Gautam, a two-time MLA and former Delhi minister, join Congress. His commitment to social justice will bolster our efforts under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.”
Yadav added, “In Delhi, we have always focused on grassroots efforts and built our strength. We are seeing many from BJP and AAP joining us. As for our alliance, it remains at the national level, and there are no current discussions about it in Delhi.”
Delhi’s Assembly elections are slated for 2025. Discussions on a potential AAP-Congress alliance will likely be revisited after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s release from jail, according to Manish Sisodia.
In his resignation letter to Kejriwal, Gautam accused AAP of neglecting Dalit interests due to pressure from BJP ideologies. He expressed his decision to leave AAP to advance the fight for social justice and Bahujan Samaj’s representation.
Gautam also shared his resignation letter on social media. He is the third senior AAP leader to depart the party, following Raaj Kumar Anand and Kartar Singh Tanwar, ahead of next year’s assembly elections.
