AAP's Himachal chief joins BJP in poll year

Ahead of assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) state unit chief, Anup Kesari, along with other key leaders - Satish Thakur and Iqbal Singh - joined the BJP on Saturday. The leaders were inducted in the presence of party chief JP Nadda and union minister Anurag Thakur in Delhi. later, Kesari accused Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal of insulting party workers during a roadshow in Mandi on Wednesday. "We have been working round the clock with utmost honesty and dedication for AAP for the past eight years in Himachal Pradesh. However, Arvind Kejriwal overlooked the state party workers when he came for a rally and roadshow in Mandi," Kesari said. Only Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann were the highlights of the roadshow in Mandi,he added.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took a dig at the BJP on Saturday. “If BJP had worked honestly for the public, there would not have been so much fear, there would not have been a need to change the CM,"  He added that “people have faith in AAP and the party will give an honest and patriotic government to Himachal Pradesh.” AAP leader and Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, too, downplayed the exits, saying that the party had received complaints that  Kesari made derogatory remarks against women and he was to be expelled anyway. Sisodia said, BJP claims it is the world's largest party. But such is the situation that at midnight, its national chief and a Union Minister induct a person against whom there are complaints of making derogatory remarks against women.