Like it poached Bedi, Shazia & Gen V K, BJP bets on ex AAP minister Gehlot

NEW DELHI: BJP on Saturday didn’t waste time in announcing former AAP minister Kailash Gahlot, who joined the party last month, to be fielded from the Bijwasan constituency.

 

Gahlot, a two-time MLA from the Najafgarh seat, joined the BJP in November 2024 after resigning from the Aam Aadmi Party, citing its departure from its core values.

 

Although BJP has given him a new seat to contest from, Gahlot may not find too many challenges to bring rich dividends. Bijwasan has a similar Jat representation as much Gahlot’s earlier constituency Najafgarh was.

 

BJP is also making Gahlot’s departure from AAP an emotive issue that’s a throwback to the riled leaders like Kiran Bedi, General V K Singh, Shazia Ilmi and Kapil Mishra — all of whom had enjoyed close proximity to Arvind Kejriwal but parted ways with him over leadership and management of the party.

 

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BJP had given key positions to Bedi and V K Singh by making them governor & MoS rank minister each, it had given Ilmi & Mishra key jobs as spokespersons and MLA candidate.

 

Known for his earlier loyalty to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Gahlot once famously described himself as Kejriwal’s “Hanuman.”

 

However, his decision to switch sides has added an intriguing dimension to the political contest in Bijwasan. While joining the BJP, Gahlot said, “ AAP no longer represents the values it once stood for,” signaling his intent to challenge his former party.

 

Bijwasan, a constituency established in 2008 after the delimitation process, has been a battleground for intense political rivalry.

 

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In the 2020 elections, AAP’s Bhupinder Singh Joon won the seat by a narrow margin of 57,271 votes against BJP candidate Sat Prakash Rana’s 56,518 votes.

 

In 2015, AAP’s Devinder Sehrawat had a more comfortable win with 65,006 votes.

 

For the upcoming elections, AAP has fielded Surendar Bhardwaj from Bijwasan, making the seat a high-stakes contest.

 

AAP has already declared candidates for all 70 assembly constituencies, while Congress has announced its contenders for 47 seats so far.