'Rahul Gandhi zindabad': Congress defectors in Delhi stage 2am 'Ghar wapsi'

Ali Mehdi, newly elected Congress councillors Sabila Begum and Nazia Khatoon on Friday joined the AAP only to make a swift return past midnight and claim that their were ‘tricked’

Hours after two newly elected Congress councillors and Delhi unit vice president Ali Mehdi joined the AAP on Friday, Ali Mehdi apologised to the Congress leadership with folded hands and said it was a mistake. Claiming that all three of them are with the Congress, Ali Mehdi said, "I don't want any post. I will remain a karyakarta of Rahul Gandhi. I did a big mistake for which I apologise to Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and to all people of my area."

The Ghar Wapsi was staged at 2am as Mustafabad ward councillor Sabila Begum's husband Haji Khushnood Khan met Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi assuring that Sabila Begum will remain in the Congress. Sabila Begum was one of the councillors who was said to have defected to AAP. The other was Nazia Khatoon who won from the Brijpuri ward.

Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi said they were tricked into joining the AAP and within hours the mistake was rectified.

Residents of Mustafabad staged a protest against the defection of Mehdi and the councillors. AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said the Congress leaders decided to join his party after seeing the work done by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. "We have invited the BJP and the Congress to work for the betterment of Delhi. I am very happy to announce that Delhi Congress vice-president Ali Mehdi and the party's two newly elected councillors Sabila Begum and Nazia Khatoon are joining the AAP," Pathak said at a press conference.