‘Dip in popularity, poor show during polls, I-Day function: AAP leaders on Kailash Gahlot exit move

According to enactment insiders, the AAP’s elder enactment was peeved with Gahlot, and not for the archetypal time.

A elder AAP person said but for the 2020 Assembly polls, Gahlot was incapable to enactment up a satisfactory show successful his constituency successful successive governmental contests — from the 2017 MCD polls to the precocious concluded Lok Sabha elections. But it was his determination to preside implicit this year’s authorities Independence Day celebrations, according to sources, that was the past straw.

With the past Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal unavailable for the lawsuit since helium was successful judicial custody astatine the clip successful transportation with the excise argumentation case, Gopal Rai, the Minister successful complaint of the General Administration Department which hosts the event, had nominated Atishi — who has the lion’s stock of much than 13 Delhi authorities departments, and counting, nether her complaint — for the task quoting the AAP convener’s determination to this effect.

In response, Delhi L-G V K Saxena had nominated Gahlot, past Delhi’s Home Minister, to unfurl the Tricolour astatine the ceremonial aft being authorised by the Ministry of Home Affairs to take a Delhi Cabinet curate for the same. “Arvind ji is understood to beryllium personally peeved that Gahlot did not diminution the L-G’s connection to nominate him. He was not lone apt to beryllium dropped arsenic a curate successful the adjacent AAP government, but the enactment was besides improbable to springiness him a summons this clip astir citing proven deficiency of popularity successful his constituency,” the insider added.

With a small implicit 55,500 votes, Gahlot won connected his location turf during the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections with a borderline of astir 6,000 votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, astatine somewhat supra 22,300, the AAP had secured less votes successful his Assembly constituency compared to the Congress’s 23,354.

This year, with an confederation betwixt the AAP and Congress successful spot for the Lok Sabha elections, the borderline of decision successful Najafgarh was wider. BJP’s Kamaljeet Sehrawat got astir 94,000 votes connected the seat, securing her triumph with a borderline of adjacent to 29,000 votes compared to the Congress’s Mahabal Mishra who got somewhat much than 65,000.

AAP leaders besides alleged Gahlot was mostly missing from the crushed during its Covid outreach. “The Delhi CM had issued directions to each AAP MLAs, particularly its ministers, to deed the crushed and marque themselves disposable to the radical arsenic overmuch arsenic possible… Gahlot neither did truthful nor made himself disposable to enactment workers citing wellness concerns,” a person claimed.