AAP’s Priyanka Kakkar joins Congress

Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar ended her association with the party on Saturday and joined the Congress

Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar ended her association with the party on Saturday and joined the Congress. Other leaders who joined Congress on Saturday were former Uttar Pradesh MLA Shyam Sundar Sharma and journalist Rajat Rakesh Tandon at an event attended by senior Congress leaders, including Rajiv Shukla, Pawan Khera and Delhi Congress chief Devendra Yadav.

Kakkar had joined the AAP in 2013 and was one of the party’s prominent national voices in television debates and press conferences (PTI)

Kakkar had joined the AAP in 2013 and was one of the party’s prominent national voices in television debates and press conferences. She said she had taken the decision after being in politics for more than a decade and wanted to work towards a green, clean, progressive and safe Delhi.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Kakkar said that discontent had been brewing for some time as AAP has moved away from the ideals it stood for and Congress is the only “authentic” party that is standing up for the country.

“I am joining the Congress party today with immense pride because I want back the Delhi I grew up in. I want the green, clean, progressive and safe Delhi that was such an important part of my growing-up years. After more than a decade of experience in Indian politics, I truly believe that only Congress can make this happen. If there is one leader who is authentic and resilient, it is Rahul Gandhi,” she said.

Kakkar also referred to the political row involving Congress, AAP and BJP, saying, “We don’t have to let the votes scatter now. We have to fight against Gyanesh Kumar and also defeat the regressive politics of the BJP.”

Kakkar also alleged that AAP had failed to retain several people who had joined it in its early years and questioned the appointment of newer leaders to senior positions.

“Initially AAP attracted so many intelligent people with substance who believed in it, but not one of them has stayed. Everyone eventually got disillusioned and left. The party has completely lost track of the ideals it was built on. I could no longer defend the indefensible,” she said.

About BJP, Kakkar said she believed that people in Delhi had seen the government’s work over the past two years and would not bring it back to power.

Congress leader Pawan Khera, welcoming Kakkar into the party, said, “Everyone wants to come on this path because the path to save this country’s Constitution and democracy is the path of the Congress party.” He also alleged that AAP had become politically weak and was heading towards “extinction” in Punjab.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, meanwhile, said Kakkar’s departure from AAP was not surprising. He questioned why several women leaders who had been associated with party convener Arvind Kejriwal and AAP had subsequently left the party. Kapoor named Kiran Bedi, Anjali Damania, Madhu Bhaduri, Shazia Ilmi, Richa Pandey, Swati Maliwal and Kakkar, and asked Kejriwal to explain why they had parted ways with the party.

Kakkar joined AAP in 2013 and handled several organisational responsibilities. She served as the party’s Telangana observer from 2017 to 2019, worked as the legal head of the South Delhi parliamentary constituency and played a role in Raghav Chadha’s 2020 Lok Sabha campaign.

In 2023, she was appointed its national chief spokesperson and was subsequently the party’s legal observer for Uttar Pradesh and was part of a 12-member monitoring committee for the state organisation.