NEW DELHI: Sixteen councillors of the Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP), a breakaway faction of the AAP, merged with the BJP on Friday in the presence of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra.
Speaking on the occasion, Malhotra noted, “Under (IVP leader and former AAP councillor) Mukesh Goel’s leadership, 16 AAP municipal councillors had formed a separate political party, the Indraprastha Vikas Party.
Although the party maintained cordial relations with the BJP, the councillors and their supporters eventually realised that by remaining a separate party, they were unable to ensure that their wards fully benefited from the all-round development being undertaken in the national capital.” He added,
“The merger was prompted by the determination of the 16 councillors to connect the people of their respective wards with the development agenda of the Rekha Gupta government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi.”
He also remarked that, for the first time in Delhi’s history, every municipal councillor—irrespective of their party affiliation—had been provided with a development fund of `1 crore by the Rekha Gupta government. He said this initiative had contributed to Delhi’s smooth handling of the current monsoon, with no major incidents of waterlogging or traffic disruption. According to him, the BJP government had demonstrated that effective governance and better civic management were possible.
Welcoming the newcomers, CM Gupta said, “I assure the residents of the councillors’ respective wards that they would now get full benefits from the development initiatives of Delhi’s “triple-engine government.” The CM further noted that she had worked with several of the newly inducted councillors at different times, both while in government and in the Opposition, and was well aware of their capabilities.
She assured all the councillors and the workers accompanying them that they would receive due respect within the BJP family and every opportunity to contribute meaningfully.
Reacting sharply to the development, the Aap Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday alleged that the merger of the IVP with the BJP vindicated the claim made by it earlier that the defections from AAP were orchestrated to help the BJP retain control of the MCD. AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said the development showed that the IVP was formed to conceal the BJP’s alleged role in the defections before eventually merging with it.