“People continously joining AAP,” Atishi affirms confidence despite Gahlot’s departure

New Delhi [India], November 19 (ANI): Days after her party suffered a setback with minister and senior leader Kailash Gahlot jumping ship to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi affirmed confidence that AAP is still going strong, as many other leaders are also joining the party.

Earlier on November 17, Kailash Gahlot, former transport minister in the Delhi government resigned from his post and the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the subsequent day.

“Aam Aadmi Party was formed in 2012. That day Arvind Kejriwal had said that if there are good people in any party who want to join AAP, they are welcome in AAP. People from different parties, social organizations, and social workers are continuously joining AAP,” the Delhi CM said during a press conference on Tuesday.

After leaving the party, Gahlot said that over that he reached the decision over a prolonged period and he mustered “courage” to quit AAP after seeing dilution in values and principles in the party.

“It doesn’t happen overnight, it happens over a prolonged period. It takes time to understand a few things. I am repeating this again and again that we are connected to some values and principles. If we see some dilution in the same, I think I mustered the courage to quit. Several others like me are unable to muster courage. I think they will continue,” Gahlot told ANI.

On the other hand, Congress MLA Sumesh Shokeen and former BJP MLA Anil Jha joined the Aam Aadmi Party in the presence of party National Convener Arvind Kejriwal.

Shokeen said, “The work being done for Delhi Dehat and to connect Delhi Dehat with Delhi has been carried out under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. I will work with Arvind Kejriwal for the people of Delhi Dehat and my constituency.”

On Sunday, Jha, after joining the party said, “I thank those who weaved the fabric of social justice for the people of Purvanchal, Dalits, and backward classes. There is no place for Purvanchal in the party I used to work for.”

Meanwhile, CM Atishi also spoke about her inspection of the ongoing work for the Delhi metro’s expansion with Phase 4, saying that the new trains will be starting within 3 to 4 months.

“The new trains that I have inspected today will start rolling out on the ground in the next 3 to 4 months and many lines of Phase 4 will also start operating in a few months,” the CM added.

The Chief Minister also said that some of the new trains will be ‘driverless.’

The new six-coach metro procured by Delhi Metro for its Phase-4 operations, arrived in Delhi on Friday, marking a significant milestone in the completion and operationalisation of the priority corridors of Phase-4, according to an official release.

As part of the RS-17 contract, DMRC will receive a total of 312 Metro coaches (52 trains) for its Phase-4 priority corridors, including Majlis Park to Maujpur, Janakpuri West to R K Ashram Marg, and Tughlakabad to Delhi Aerocity. The delivery of the trains will occur in phases in the coming months, the release added.

Of the 312 coaches, 234 will be allocated for the extended sections of Line-7 (Pink Line) and Line-8 (Magenta Line), covering the Majlis Park to Maujpur and Janakpuri West to R K Ashram Marg routes. The remaining 78 coaches will serve the Tughlakabad to Delhi Aerocity corridor.