Kapil Mishra, disqualified AAP MLA, joins BJP

Kapil Mishra, a former minister in Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, on Saturday joined the BJP at party headquarters in Delhi. Mishra was inducted into the Saffron fold at about 11 am in presence of state unit president Manoj Tiwari and former union minister Vijay Goel. According to a statement issued by the Delhi BJP several "eminent personalities" are scheduled to join the party later in the day.

Earlier on Friday, Mishra took to Twitter and announced his decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), giving a further call to head towards Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am joining BJP tomorrow at 11 am. Let's go to Delhi with Modi," Mishra tweeted.

I am joining BJP tomorrow at 11 a.m.
दिलà¥Âà¤²à¥€ चले मोदी के साथ 🇮🇳

— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) August 16, 2019

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The development comes nearly two weeks after Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, in early August, disqualified the rebel AAP MLA under the anti-defection law as he campaigned for the BJP during Lok Sabha elections in May.

The disqualification came into effect from January 27 this year, when Mishra shared dias with Tiwari and Goel against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), according to the order issued by the speaker.

Speculations over Mishra joining the BJP have been doing rounds ever since he started criticising AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal after being removed as a minister in May 2017. He grew close to many Delhi BJP leaders and is often seen shared stage with them.

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Meanwhile, two other AAP MLAs - Devender Sehrawat and Anil Bajpai - who joined the BJP during Lok Sabha polls are also facing disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law. They had claimed that they had not taken membership of the BJP, but were impressed with the policies of Prime Minister Modi.