Balli returns to BJP, says made mistakes in the past

Harsharan Singh Balli, who fought the 2013 Delhi assembly elections on a Congress ticket and lost, Tuesday returned to the BJP ahead of the state polls.

"I committed a mistake and now I am repenting. The mistakes that I committed in the last one year have been forgiven by the BJP," Balli said, adding that he wanted to work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I have realised that the BJP is the only party that is serious about developing the nation and I want to be a part of it," he added.

Balli quit the Bharatiya Janata Party after he was denied ticket for the Hari Nagar constituency in the December 2013 Delhi assembly polls due to a seat-sharing arrangement with BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal.

He contested the election on a Congress ticket and finished third behind victorious Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Jagdeep Singh and BJP's Shyam Sharma.

AAP founder member Ashwini Upadhyay, along with three other party leaders, also joined the BJP.

"We quit our jobs and joined the AAP thinking they will change the system. But the party today is plagued with corruption and indiscipline under a dictator," Upadhyay said.

"We want to build the nation and only the BJP is focusing on it," Upadhyay said, adding that all the four members resigned from the AAP Tuesday afternoon.

The development comes just days after former AAP legislator M.S. Dhir, who was denied a ticket by the party for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls, joined the BJP.