BJP Spreading Rumours That I Am Quitting AAP: Delhi Assembly Speaker

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel today accused the BJP of spreading "rumours" that he was quitting the Aam Aadmi Party to join the ruling party.

At a press conference on the Assembly premises, Mr Goel asserted that he continued to be a loyal member of Arvind Kejriwal's AAP, which is caught in an intense flux following a string of poll defeats.

Mr Goel, who was a BJP MLA in the past, said he decided to take a stand on the issue after his "old friends in the BJP" called him asking if there was any truth in the reports of him quitting the AAP.

"I will be with the AAP till the last breath of my life.Through a vicious campaign, they (BJP) wanted the dedicated AAP volunteers to believe that I was leaving the party to join them," he said.

Mr Goel said he called the press meet as an AAP member and not as the Speaker of the Assembly.

He rejected the possibility of the rumours being the handiwork of an AAP insider.

"Since I was made the speaker, I have always strived to keep myself above politics. But the rumours that have gathered steam of late, forced me to come out and issue this clarification," said Mr Goel.

When contacted, former Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said Mr Goel must be "imagining things" and it might also be a "pre-emptive excuse" to stop the "further dismantling" of the AAP.

"He should clearly mention the source of this so-called rumour. The BJP has got nothing to do with it," he added.