AAP MLA, ex-Minister Raj Anand join BJP

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar and former Delhi government minister Raj Kumar Anand joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday, claiming that development works have come to a standstill in the national capital. Tanwar said Delhi has turned into a "hell" due to absence of development works and problems related to water and sanitation.

Anand, who had contested the recent Lok Sabha election on a BSP ticket but lost, accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of ignoring issues related to Dalits. Anand, who hails from Dalit community, was a minister in the city government led by Kejriwal and quit the party over the issue of corruption after the AAP's convener was arrested in the excise case. The former MLA from Patel Nagar seat joined the BJP along with his wife Veena Anand, also a former legislator, and a few other AAP leaders.

They joined the BJP in the presence of its Delhi president Virendra Sachdeva and national general secretary Arun Singh. Welcoming them into the party, Sachdeva and Singh lauded them and asserted that the AAP's tenure as the Delhi's ruling party is coming to an end as people have become fed up with its alleged corruption and scams. The two AAP leaders praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and vision. "Delhi is in a bad shape. A party which was born out of a movement to end corruption is deeply steeped in corruption," Tanwar said.