Haryana elections: Ex-Delhi Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam joins Congress ahead of Haryana elections
Ex-Delhi Minister and AAP MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam on Friday joined Congress in the presence of general secretary KC Venugopal, party’s Delhi chief Devender Yadav and party leader Pawan Khera.
Gautam was in the Delhi cabinet in 2015 and held the portfolios of Water, Tourism, and Culture, Arts and Languages. He was an elected MLA from Delhi’s Seemapuri Assembly constituency.
The former minister resigned from the cabinet in October 2022 after a a controversy erupted. Gautam attended an event where and later said that in the event “more than 10,000 people pledged to join Buddhism and work for making India free from casteism and untouchability.” During the event, while Gautam was on stage, the attendees repeated Twenty-two vows that B. R. Ambedkar had administered to his followers. Among other vows it included a vow that they would not pray to Hindu gods and goddesses. The BJP attacked AAP, party president Arvind Kejriwal and Gautam during the campaign for 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election, which eventually resulted in Gautam’ resignation.
He quit AAP on Friday before joining Congress. He made the announcement on social media platform X. “In order to accelerate the struggle for social justice and participation and involvement of Bahujan Samaj in all fields, I am resigning from all the posts and membership of Aam Aadmi Party. Jai Bheem!” he said in the post.
Upon joining Congress, Gautam said that there was a rise in religious frenzy in the last decade.
“Unfortunately, we can see a rise in religious and caste frenzy in the last 10 years. Riots are breaking out and Dalits, backwards and minorities are being oppressed,” he said. The former AAP leader also praised Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“At such a time, Rahul Gandhi gave a slogan during Bharat Jodo Yatra – Main nafrat ke baazar mein mohabbat ki dukaan kholne aaya hoon. That slogan touched my heart. He said that Constitution has to be saved and taking forward social justice in the country, every section should get their representation as per their population…My struggle has always been that everyone should get their representation and honour,” Gautam said.
The former minister thanked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for giving him an opportunity to become an MLA twice.
“He (Arvind Kejriwal) gave me the opportunity and I became an MLA twice. I express gratitude to him for this but my fight is somewhere else – on the issue of social justice, on caste-based census, on representation, AAP maintains silence on these issues…It hurt me,” he said.
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