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Updated: Aug 17, 2019 19:55 IST

Former minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government and disqualified MLA Kapil Mishra along with AAP women’s wing chief Richa Pandey joined the BJP on Saturday.

The duo was welcomed by BJP national vice president Shyam Jaju and Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari at the party’s office on Pant Marg.

Watch| Former AAP minister Kapil Mishra jumps ship to join BJP

“I welcome Kapil Mishra and Richa Pandey into BJP and hope they will serve Delhi by following the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and philosophy of Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Syama Prasad Mookerjee,” Tiwari said.

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel earlier this month had disqualified Mishra under the anti-defection law after he campaigned for the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections in May.

Mishra, elected from Karawalnagar seat, has challenged his disqualification in Delhi High court.

Speculations over Mishra joining the BJP were making rounds since he started criticising the AAP supremo after being removed as a minister in May 2017.

Subsequently, he grew close to many Delhi BJP leaders and often shared the stage with them at public events.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)