In a new political twist at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), 13 AAP councillors resigned from the party on Saturday and announced the formation of a breakaway outfit - Indraprastha Vikas Party - citing stalled development work and growing internal discontent.
Senior councillor Mukesh Goyal, who will serve as the president of the new party, told a news agency , "In the two and a half years since our election, no development work has been carried out. The party was too busy with internal conflicts and blame games. We repeatedly raised our concerns with the leadership, but no one listened." No immediate reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was available.
Goyal also alleged that elected councillors were not allotted budgets to carry out developmental work in their respective wards.
"We want to focus on real work for the people of Delhi. We want the House to function smoothly and ensure that the policies are implemented in public interest," he stressed while clarifying that the move was limited to MCD.
The new outfit will be led by veteran municipal figure Hemchand Goyal and includes other former AAP councillors such as Dinesh Bharadwaj, Himani Jain, Usha Sharma, Sahib Kumar, Rakhi Kumar, Ashok Pandey, Rajesh Kumar, and Anil Rana.
The anti-defection law does not apply to municipal bodies, including the MCD. PTIn a major jolt to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), fifteen municipal councillors in Delhi have resigned from the party and announced the formation of a separate political party named the Indraprastha Vikas Party.
Among the rebels, Mukesh Goel’s departure carries particular weight as he served as the Leader of the House for AAP in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
“We have launched Indraprastha Vikas Party because we were not able to do any public work for the past year or two. The House never functions smoothly due to disruptions,” said Goel, claiming that more councillors might join their new party.
Notably, he had contested the Delhi Assembly elections held in February this year on an AAP ticket but failed to secure a win.
The joint resignation letter submitted by the councillors stated, “All of us Municipal Councilors were elected in the Delhi Municipal Corporation in the year 2022 on the ticket of Aam Aadmi Party, but despite coming to power in the Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2022, the top leadership of the party was unable to run the Delhi Municipal Corporation smoothly.”
They further highlighted a breakdown in internal coordination, noting, “The coordination between the top leadership and the Municipal Councillors was negligible, due to which the party came into the opposition.”
The letter added, “As we were not able to fulfil the promise made to the public, we, the councillors, are resigning from the primary membership of the party.”
This fresh round of resignations is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Aam Aadmi Party within the MCD.
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