AAP loses Jat face with Gahlot's exit, rollout of much-touted cash dole for women may be affected

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday lost its popular Jat face and key minister in Delhi, Kailash Gahlot, whose resignation is likely to hit the AAP government's ambitious plan to roll out the scheme of Rs 1000 monthly honorarium to women ahead of Assembly polls due in February.

Gahlot represented the Jat-dominated Najafgarh constituency in West Delhi since 2015. The ripples of his resignation are sure to be felt in the rural belt of outer Delhi areas that have a significant presence of the community, AAP sources said.

The 50-year-old held portfolios of Transport, Home, IT, Administrative Reforms, and Women and Child Development in the Atishi government.

The Women and Child Development department has been drafting 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojna', announced by Chief Minister Atishi in the budget 2024-25. Its planned implementation before the polls to woo voters will now be affected as Gahlot was closely associated with the drafting of the scheme, officials said.

In his resignation letter to AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Gahlot raised several issues including the "Sheeshmahal" controversy over his former official residence, the Delhi government's tussle with the Centre disrupting the delivery of basic services to people and the failure to clean Yamuna River, virtually echoing the BJP's views.

Delhi BJP leaders welcomed Gahlot's resignation strengthening the buzz that he could join the party ahead of the assembly polls.

"He took a brave step. He has cited reasons for his resignation that were the same which were being raised by the BJP against Kejriwal and the AAP," Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

However, AAP leaders claimed Gahlot resigned because he was facing cases from central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, and joining the BJP was the last option before him.

"Gahlot's resignation is part of the BJP's dirty politics and conspiracy. Pressure was created on him through ED-CBI raids, and now he is reading the BJP's script," AAP leader Sanjay Singh charged.

Although Gahlot's resignation took many by surprise, it was not altogether unexpected as he was feeling "alienated" within AAP, the sources said.

Last year, he was divested of important portfolios of Revenue and Finance that were handed over to Atishi. Further, he was overlooked by Kejriwal, who was in jail, when he decided to nominate a minister to unfurl the tricolour on the chief minister's behalf on Independence Day this year.

Gahlot finally unfurled the national flag at the Delhi government function after the Lt Governor decided in his favour, although Kejriwal wanted Atishi to do so, the sources said.

Again, Gahlot was bypassed by Kejriwal who chose Atishi as his successor following his decision to step down as chief minister. This apparently rubbed Gahlot the wrong way, they claimed.

Gahlot, who shared his letters of resignation to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and AAP convener Kejriwal from the council of ministers and the primary membership of the party, respectively, did not respond to calls and messages.

Kejriwal too refused to comment on his resignation, when questioned by reporters at a party programme.

The sources said Gahlot enjoyed cordial relations with bureaucrats of the Delhi government as well as the office of Delhi LG VK Saxena. Even at the peak of the tussle between the AAP dispensation and the LG, Gahlot never used harsh words, they said.

Gahlot faced action in the past by central agencies as the income tax department raided several premises including his Vasant Kunj residence in 2018, and his name cropped up in an ED remand application over an excise policy accused living at the official accommodation provided to the Delhi minister.

In 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case into alleged irregularities related to the procurement of 1000 low-floor buses by the DTC.

As the transport minister of the Delhi government, Gahlot implemented and supervised many schemes and policies including free bus rides for women, electric vehicle policy, induction of electric buses and autos, and the deployment of bus marshals for women's safety among others.

He was a lawyer by profession and joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2015. He was fielded from Najafgarh constituency in the Assembly elections that year. He won with a slender margin of over 1500 votes and got reelected from there in 2020 polls with a bigger margin of more than 6,000 votes.

AAP sources claimed that Gahlot's ticket from Najafgarh for Assembly polls was uncertain this time.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak asserted that Gahlot's exit was not a setback for the party as AAP was "formed because of two crore people of Delhi".

"A party cannot be formed or broken because of just one person. Every person is free to choose their path, and we wish them all the best," he said.