assembly-elections

Updated: Jan 13, 2020 17:12 IST

Vinay Mishra, son of Congress leader and former MP Mahabal Mishra, and Ram Singh, Congress’ two-time MLA from Badarpur, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday ahead of the Assembly elections in Delhi.

The move comes days after five-time Congress MLA from Matia Mahal Shoaib Iqbal joined Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP.

Vinay Mishra had fought the Assembly elections in 2013 from the Palam constituency, but lost his security deposit to the AAP’s Bhavna Gaur. In the AAP, Mishra, is likely to be projected as one of the party’s faces for people from purvanchal, or eastern Uttar Pradesh.

“I am joining AAP because of the work it has done for the people. The development works in unauthorised colonies and making power and water free has helped a lot of purvanchalis who mostly live on rent in these colonies,” said Mishra.

Ram Singh Netaji (64), another Congress leader who joined the AAP on Monday, has been a senior leader of the Congress party and has been a two-term MLA from the Badarpur assembly constituency of Delhi.

Singh had fought as an independent candidate from Badarpur during the legislative assembly election in Delhi in 1998 and had won. He fought on a ticket from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and won from Badarpur during the 4th legislative assembly election of Delhi (2008).

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the request by the two political leaders signalled that people love the work done by the AAP government.

“We hope in the coming days more and more people show support to our party which only believes in honest work,” he said.

A number of councillors and local Congress leaders too joined the party on Monday.