Setback for Arvind Kejriwal: 13 AAP councillors in Delhi leave party to float new outfit. Know why

In a major setback to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, as many as 13 councillors of the Aam Aadmi Party resigned from the party on Saturday, citing halted development work and rising internal conflict as the reasons for their move.

In the latest political twist at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the 13 AAP councillors announced the formation of a breakaway outfit - Indraprastha Vikas Party, PTI said in a report.

“In the two and a half years since our election, no development work has been carried out. The party was too busy with internal conflicts and blame games,” senior councillor Mukesh Goyal was quoted as saying by PTI.

“We repeatedly raised our concerns with the leadership, but no one listened,” he added.

AAP has not yet issued a statement regarding the setback.

The anti-defection law does not apply to municipal bodies, including the MCD.

Which AAP councillors joined Indraprastha Vikas Party?

While Mukesh Goyal will serve as the president of the Indraprastha Vikas Party, veteran municipal figure Hemchand Goyal will lead the outfit.

Other AAP leaders including Dinesh Bharadwaj, Himani Jain, Usha Sharma, Sahib Kumar, Rakhi Kumar, Ashok Pandey, Rajesh Kumar, and Anil Rana, will be part of the newly floated party.

‘Want to focus on real work’

Mukesh Goyal further alleged that elected councillors were not being allotted budgets to carry out developmental work in their respective wards.

“We want to focus on real work for the people of Delhi. We want the House to function smoothly and ensure that the policies are implemented in public interest,” he stressed while clarifying that the move was limited to MCD.

On April 25, AAP lost control over the MCD months after losing the Delhi Assembly Elections, as the BJP returned to power at the corporation after two years.

BJP's Raja Iabal was elected Delhi's new mayor, while AAP chose to avoid the elections.

Notably, three civic bodies, East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), were re-unified into a single entity on May 22, 2022, as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.