BJP leader Pravesh Ratn, who contested unsuccessfully in the Patel Nagar reserved constituency during the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday.
Ratn, a prominent leader from the Jatav community, was welcomed into the AAP by senior leaders Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak at the party’s headquarters in Delhi.
This move comes months after former AAP MLA Raaj Kumar Anand, who represented Patel Nagar, joined the BJP along with another AAP MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar in July. Anand had resigned as a Delhi government minister in April and was subsequently disqualified as an MLA by the Assembly Speaker.
In 2020, Ratn contested as a BJP candidate but lost to Anand by over 30,000 votes. With Assembly elections due in February 2025, the two leaders may face off again, albeit under their new political banners.
Ratn said he was inspired by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and the way he helped people, especially those belonging to the weaker sections, save money because of free facilities provided by the AAP government.