Five-time Congress MLA Chaudhary Mateen Ahmed joins AAP in Delhi

New Delhi: Congress leader and five-time MLA from Seelampur, Mateen Ahmed, joined the AAP on Sunday, days after his son and daughter-in-law moved to the Kejriwal-led party.

Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal formalised the joining of the veteran Delhi Congress leader.

"Chaydhary Mateen Ahmed ji has been serving the people by living in the Yamuna -paar area," Kejriwal said in a post on X as he welcomed the latest entrant in the party.

यमुना पार क्षेत्र में चौधरी मतीन अहमद जी जनता के बीच रहकर उनकी सेवा करते आए हैं। चौधरी साहब का आम आदमी पार्टी परिवार में स्वागत है। https://t.co/V0dPu8FH0F

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 10, 2024

On October 29, Ahmed's son Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed and his councillor wife Shagufta Chaudhary joined the AAP.

The AAP, in turn, suffered a jolt as veteran politician Harsharan Singh Balli quit the party and joined the BJP alongwith his son Gurmeet Singh.

Balli, a four-time BJP MLA from the Harinagar constituency in West Delhi, served as minister in the Madan Lal Khurana government. He later joined the AAP.

The former MLA joined the BJP in the presence of the party's Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva and his former associates in the party Subhash Arya and Subhash Sachdeva.

Delhi Assembly polls are due in February next year.