Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister and prominent Dalit leader Rajendra Pal Gautam joined the Congress on Friday. Gautam announced his departure from the Kejriwal-led party through a resignation letter addressed to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, where he accused the AAP of neglecting Dalit interests under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In his three-page resignation letteron X (formerly Twitter), Gautam stated, "...to accelerate the struggle for social justice and participation and involvement of Bahujan Samaj in all fields, I am resigning from all the posts and membership of Aam Aadmi Party. Jai Bheem!"
Gautam joined the Congress in the presence of party's general secretary KC Venugopal, party's Delhi chief Devender Yadav and party leader Pawan Khera.
"...Unfortunately, we can see a rise in religious and caste frenzy in the last 10 years. Riots are breaking out and Dalits, backwards and minorities are being oppressed. At such a time, Rahul Gandhi gave a slogan during Bharat Jodo Yatra - Main nafrat ke baazar mein mohabbat ki dukaan kholne aaya hoon. That slogan touched my heart. He said that Constitution has to be saved and taking forward social justice in the country, every section should get their representation as per their population...My struggle has always been that everyone should get their representation and honour. He (Arvind Kejriwal) gave me the opportunity and I became an MLA twice. I express gratitude to him for this but my fight is somewhere else - on the issue of social justice, on caste-based census, on representation, AAP maintains silence on these issues...It hurt me," Rajendra Pal Gautam said in a press conference.
Gautam, who has represented Seemapuri in the Delhi assembly since 2015, was appointed to the Kejriwal Cabinet in 2020 during the AAP’s third term in power. He has been a key Dalit figure within the party. Gautam's departure marks the third major exit from AAP in recent times, following the resignations of Raaj Kumar Anand and Kartar Singh Tanwar, ahead of the Delhi assembly elections expected early next year.