New Delhi [India], April 26 : Congress SC Department Chairman Rajendra Pal Gautam on Saturday claimed BJP and AAP might merge in future due to their "similar" ideology.
His remarks follow AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha's announcement on Friday that two-thirds of the party's MPs were merging with the BJP. After that, Chadha and two others formally joined the ruling party.
Gautam, who previously served as an MLA under the AAP government in Delhi, asserted that the merger was inevitable, as both parties share a foundational ideology rooted in the RSS, stating, "Both parties have similar thoughts. There is no difference between them. Sooner or later, they will become one," Gautam told ANI.
The Congress leader revisited the 2011 movement led by socialist Anna Hazare, alleging it was designed by the RSS and BJP to dismantle the Congress-led UPA government.
"The Anna Andolan that was going on was also of RSS-BJP. At that time, to bring the BJP into power and to defame Congress, Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal spread lies on the basis of the RSS-BJP," Gautam claimed.
"They talked about ending corruption, bringing back Jan Lokpal, and black money. An illusion of 2G spectrum fraud and coal block fraud was made up," he added.
When asked about BJP leader Parvesh Sahib Singh's recent remarks against Kejriwal, where he called his new type-VII government bungalow a "Sheesh Mahal part two", Gautam expressed a lack of surprise. "As it is, he used to say hateful things in between," he said, maintaining that the remaining AAP leaders can "go to the BJP".
Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal on Saturday parted ways with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday and subsequently joined the BJP in the presence of party leadership.
Addressing a presser in the national capital, Chadha informed that Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal have also switched to the BJP.
Raghav Chadha said that they have informed the Chairman of the House, in accordance with the rules, of leaving the party. He formalised a split that had been building for weeks, announcing that two-thirds of the party's Upper House members would merge with the BJP.
This move attracted a furious response from AAP leaders, with many branding them as "traitors".
Meanwhile, BJP National President Nitin Nabin welcomed the Rajya Sabha MPs at the BJP Headquarters in Delhi after they joined the Bhartiya Janata Party.
Taking it to X, Nabin on Friday extended warm wishes to all seven Members of the Parliament, encouraging them to work towards achieving the goal of "Viksit Bharat by 2047."
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