Congress leader Mateen Ahmed joins AAP; Balli returns to BJP

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 formally inducted Chaudhary Mateen Ahmed into AAP at a programme in Seelampur.

"Chaudhary 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.

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

Ahmed served as the MLA from Seelampur from 1993 to 2015 and also held posts of vice chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board and chairperson of the Delhi Waqf Board.

"He is a prominent figure in Delhi's politics. Like AAP, which is known for its commitment to the people, Chaudhary Mateen Ahmed is is known in his area for always being there for his constituents at the hour of their need," Kejriwal added.

Ahmed said he was inspired by Arvind Kejriwal's style of politics and decided to join the party. "My sole objective now is to strengthen the AAP and serve the people wholeheartedly," he said.

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.

According to a Delhi BJP statement, Balli said he left the AAP because it was no more the same as when he first became a part of it.

"I joined the Aam Aadmi Party with great hope, influenced by Kejriwal's words, but after five years, I have left AAP in disappointment because he has plunged Delhi into corruption," he said.

The former minister said the Sikh community is looking towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi with trust and is grateful to him "for bringing the 1984 riots accused to justice."