E-Paper
Delhi elections 2020: Watching the turncoats ahead of the high-stake poll
Over the past few months several political leaders, mostly MLAs and former MLAs, have even switched parties, more often to secure their candidature in the assembly elections which are scheduled to be held on February 8.
With the assembly elections less than a month away, the three major political parties in Delhi - the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress - are pulling out all stops to make their position stronger in the electoral battlefield.
Over the past few months several political leaders, mostly MLAs and former MLAs, have even switched parties, more often to secure their candidature in the assembly elections which are scheduled to be held on February 8.
Here is a list of leaders who have crossed over to the other side in the past few months:
1. Anil Bajpai: The AAP’s Bajpai moved to the BJP on May 3, 2019. In the 2015 Delhi assembly elections, Bajpai beat Jitender of the BJP from the Gandhi Nagar seat and got 45.24% of the votes. However, in May 2019, he joined the BJP and is likely to get a ticket from the opposition party in the same constituency.
2. Devender Sehrawat: Sehrawat joined the BJP in May 2019 after which he was disqualified as AAP’s MLA from the Bijwasan constituency. The BJP is likely to field Sehrawat although the seat is unknown.
3. Rajkumar Kumar Chauhan: The former Delhi minister and senior Congress leader Chauhan quit the party to join the BJP on May 11, 2019. Chauhan, a former four-time MLA and minister in the Sheila Dikshit government, was upset with the Congress after he was denied ticket from the North West Delhi Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 general elections.
4. Kapil Mishra: Mishra was Delhi’s water and tourism minister after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in the 2015 assembly elections. In May 2017, he was removed from Arvind Kejriwal’s cabinet and things went downhill for him since then.
After being sidelined by the AAP for levelling corruption charges against Kejriwal and state urban development minister Satyendar Jain, Mishra joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections on August 17, 2019.
The speaker of the Delhi Assembly later disqualified him as an MLA from Karawal Nagar. Now, senior BJP leaders have hinted that the party is keen on making Mishra their candidate from the Karawal Nagar assembly constituency to give a tough fight to the AAP.
5. Prahlad Singh Sawhney: The four-time Congress MLA was elected in the 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013 assembly elections from the Chandni Chowk seat. He, however, joined the AAP on October 6, 2019, and the Kejriwal-led party is likely to field him from the same seat in the upcoming elections.
6. Alka Lamba: Once a strong woman leader of the AAP, Lamba was disqualified as the party’s MLA from the Chandni Chowk seat after she joined the Congress on October 12, 2019. The Congress is likely to give Lamba a ticket to contest from the Chandni Chowk seat. Prior to joining the AAP, Lamba was associated with the Congress party.
7. Gugan Singh: The AAP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Northwest Delhi constituency, Gugan Singh Rana rejoined the BJP on December 30, 2019. He was a prominent Dalit face of the BJP in the outer Delhi areas but had left the party in 2017 after he was denied ticket in the Bawana by-poll and joined the AAP. The BJP is likely to field Singh from the Bawana seat in the February 8 elections.
8. Shoaib Iqbal: The five-time MLA has been a Congress heavyweight and its minority face for politics in the national capital. Iqbal shifted to the AAP on January 10, 2020, and is likely to contest for the party from the Matia Mahal seat.
A former deputy speaker in the Delhi assembly, Iqbal had been an MLA in the 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013 assemblies. In the 2015 assembly elections, he was defeated by Aasim Ahmed Khan of the AAP. He had been with various political parties including Janata Dal and the Congress.
9. Vinay Mishra: The son of senior Congress leader and former lawmaker and MLA Mahabal Mishra, Vinay Mishra joined the AAP on January 13, 2020. Vinay contested the 2013 assembly elections from the Palam seat but lost and came fourth. This time the AAP may field Vinay from the Dwarka seat.
10. Ram Singh Netaji: He won from the Badarpur assembly constituency twice — once as a BSP candidate and second time as an Independent, after which he joined the Congress. On Monday, Netaji joined the AAP hinting that the leader might be given a ticket from the Badarpur seat.
