Kailash Gahlot, a former Delhi minister and the AAP's senior leader, on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, a day after he quit the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
Gahlot joined the BJP at party headquarters in the presence of senior BJP leaders including Manohar Lal Khattar, Jay Panda, Anil Baluni, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, among others.
Gahlot, AAP's Jat face in the capital and MLA from Najafgarh constituency twice, was a minister in the AAP government since 2017 and held charge of key portfolios including home, transport, IT, and women and child development departments.
In his resignation letter addressed to AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Gahlot cited unfulfilled promises and recent controversies as the reasons behind the move.
CM Atishi further accepted his resignation from the Council of Ministers, effective immediately.
Gahlot, in his resignation letter, asserted that the party has strayed from its core values
"Today, AAP faces grave challenges. to the values that brought us together," he wrote.
The 50-year-old leader also stressed in his resignation letter that there were 'grave challenges' within AAP and also lamented that the 'values which brought them together were getting lost in politics'.
"Political ambitions have overtaken our commitment towards people, leaving many promises unfulfilled. Take for example the Yamuna, which we had promised to transform into a clean river, but never got around to doing it. Now the Yamuna River is perhaps even more polluted than ever before," he wrote.
In the letter, he also answered all the controversy surrounding the Arvind Kejriwal's bungalow, which his rivals termed 'Sheeshmahal'.
Gahlot said that there are a whole array of embarrassing and bizarre issues like Sheeshmahal, which have now led people to question whether we still believe in being the party of the common man.
He added that this constant tussle between the Centre and Delhi government has hindered the city's progress.
"It is now clear that if the Delhi government spends most of its time fighting with the Centre, real progress for Delhi is not possible," Gahlot added.
Gahlot's resignation from AAP came as a big blow for the AAP, particularly in light of the Assembly elections, scheduled in February next year.
Read also| Delhi Congress Slams AAP as a 'Sinking Ship' After Gahlot's Resignation
Read also| AAP Replaces Kailash Gahlot with New Jat Representative in Delhi Cabinet
