Former Congress leaders Nirmal, daughter Chitra to join AAP on April 7
A top party leader confirmed that the father-daughter duo will be joining the party fold officially in the presence of AAP’s national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal or some other senior leader
A month after the Aam Aadmi Party’s thumping victory in Punjab, former Congress leaders and founding members of the Haryana Democratic Front (HDF), Nirmal Singh and Chitra Sarwara, are all set to join the AAP in New Delhi on Thursday.
A top AAP leader confirmed that the father-daughter duo will be joining the party fold officially in the presence of AAP’s national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal or some other senior leader. Local leaders from the HDF said the duo will leave for the national capital with party office-bearers and merge their two-year-old front with the AAP.
Scores of banners and flags bearing photos of the duo and AAP’s central and state leadership will be placed on NH-44 from Ambala Cantonment till Singhu Border, people privy with the development said.
There is a strong buzz that Nirmal, a former revenue minister, could be given important responsibility in North Haryana and Chitra a senior position in the state. On this, the AAP leader quoted above said, “We are yet not sure on this, but they are active leaders and will be given a good responsibility.”
This development comes days after former Congress state president Ashok Tanwar also joined the AAP amid the party’s ongoing active membership drive in Haryana.
Nirmal is a four-time MLA from the Naggal constituency in Ambala and has a significant base in northern districts like Ambala, Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, and Kaithal. He was seeking a Congress ticket for his daughter from Ambala Cantonment against sitting MLA and home minister Anil Vij in the 2019 assembly elections, but was denied.
Irked over the decision, both Nirmal and Chitra contested unsuccessfully as independents from City and Cantonment constituencies. However, they gained a sizeable vote share.
In March 2020, weeks before the pandemic hit the nation, the HDF was launched in Ambala with a focus on the issues of northern Haryana. Later in December, the front faced its first electoral test in the municipal corporation elections, but failed to garner support and won just two seats in the 20-ward House. HDF actively supported the farmers’ agitation against three farm laws.
Political observers believe that, unlike Punjab, the electoral politics in Haryana is governed by the Jats’ votes and it will be interesting to see if Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former chief minister and a Jat face, is given charge of the state by the Congress or not.