BJP leaders, workers from Manish Sisodia’s Jangpura constituency join AAP

New Delhi:  Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Jangpura candidate Manish Sisodia on Thursday welcomed “many BJP leaders and workers” from the constituency who joined the party in power in the national capital ahead of the Delhi assembly polls.

Polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 and votes will be counted on February 8.

 The development in Jangpura comes as Sisodia, former Delhi deputy chief minister, faces a tough contest in the seat after moving from his traditional stronghold of Patparganj.

 Along with Rajya Sabha AAP MP Sanjay Singh, Sisodia welcomed the new members who included BJP leaders Vijaypal Singh, a former councillor and chairman of the City Zone, and Mohit Chaudhary, BJP’s block vice president from Jangpura.

 Talking to reporters about the development, Sisodia said, “Influenced by the policies of AAP and the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, many BJP leaders and workers have decided to join our movement. This marks a big step towards building a stronger team for the Jangpura constituency.”

 Though Sisodia had emerged victorious in three consecutive elections from Patparganj, he won by a slender margin of 3,207 votes against his nearest rival Ravinder Singh Negi of the BJP in the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls. In the 2015 polls, he trounced BJP’s Vinod Kumar Binny by 28,761 votes and in 2013, he defeated BJP’s Nakul Bhardwaj by a margin of 11,476 votes.

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 He is now locked in a close contest in Jangpura. The BJP has fielded Tarvinder Singh Marwah while the Congress has nominated former municipal leader Farhad Suri.

 Having been forced to resign as the deputy chief minister on being arrested and sent to jail after he was named in the alleged Delhi excise scam, Sisodia faces an uphill task in the forthcoming polls.

 While AAP is seeking to retain power for a third consecutive term, the BJP is making concerted efforts to rule Delhi again after 26 years and the Congress is fighting hard to remain relevant in the national capital.