AAP Gandhi Nagar MLA joins BJP amid trading of barbs over horse trading

In a setback to the AAP just over a week before polling for Lok Sabha seats takes place in Delhi, its sitting MLA from Gandhi Nagar Anil Bajpai Friday joined the BJP amid trading of barbs between the two parties over horse trading charges.

Bajpai said that he quit the AAP as he felt "suffocated" over the "misbehaviour and insult" meted out the party and claimed that several other legislators of the ruling party in the national capital felt the same way.

The move comes at a time when AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, have accused the BJP of indulging in horse trading.

Bajpai is the second AAP lawmaker to join the BJP in the last couple of months. AAP MP from Punjab Harinder Singh Khalsa, who was suspended from the party, joined the BJP in March.

The Delhi MLA joined the BJP in presence of party national vice-president and city BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju and Union minister Vijay Goel at the Delhi unit office of the saffron party.

"I worked with the AAP for many years. I was hurt by the lack of respect and the peculiar functioning of the party. It has detracted from its original path," Bajpai said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday took potshots at Narendra Modi after the BJP claimed it was in touch with 14 "frustrated" AAP MLAs, asking if for the prime minister democracy meant forming government by "buying" opposition MLAs.

He tagged a news report in a tweet and asked Goel, "Why your talks over buying 14 AAP MLAs is stuck, how much are you offering and how much are they asking for."
Asked about this issue, he said, "Let them (AAP) disclose names of their seven MLAs who have been offered money, I will give you the names of rest of the seven."