New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar quit the party and joined the Congress on Saturday, saying she could no longer defend the indefensible.
Kakkar joined the Congress alongside former Uttar Pradesh MLA Shyam Sunder Sharma and Rajat Rakesh Tandon in the presence of senior party leaders, including Rajiv Shukla, Pawan Khera and the party’s Delhi unit chief Devendra Yadav.
Welcoming Kakkar and the others into the party, Congress general secretary Naseer Hussain said Kakkar was a former chief national spokesperson of the AAP, while Shyam Sundar Sharma was a former MLA from Uttar Pradesh. He said Rajat Rakesh Tandon hailed from the family of freedom fighter Purushottam Das Tandon.
“Today, from Ladakh to Kanyakumari, people are placing their trust in the leadership of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition (in the Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi and joining the Congress. We welcome everyone with open hearts,” Hussain said.
“Today is a day of great joy. Shyam Sundar Sharma, who is quite an influential leader in Uttar Pradesh, is with us. He has been an eight-time MLA and previously served as a minister,' he said.
“Priyanka Kakkar and Rajat Rakesh Tandon are also joining the Congress. I believe that the new joinings will have a significant impact on the politics of Uttar Pradesh and the country,” Rajiv Shukla said.
Assembly elections are due in Uttar Pradesh next year.
Kakkar said she believed that only the Congress could make Delhi progressive and safe.
“I have observed that if there is one leader who is authentic and is not afraid to promote his ideas, it is Rahul Gandhi. He is the only leader today who does not shed tears for the cameras. He is resilient," Kakkar said.
“I have seen how he was humiliated and how an entire machinery was deployed to put him down. But Rahul Gandhi and the Congress remained resilient. Their authenticity is their soul. I saw a soul in this party (Congress), which I found missing in other parties. And I say this from lived experience,” she said.
Kakkar said she left the AAP because there was a time when it was said that its leaders would not accept a bungalow or a car.
“But later, choppers were being used for private travel; I could no longer defend the indefensible,” Kakkar said.
“I drew a line when I saw that the AAP, which at one point attracted people with great substance and intelligence, was unable to retain them. Who are the people being retained and brought in now?
“New people who have not even worked at the booth level are being brought in from Rajasthan and given senior positions in Punjab, along with bungalows and cars. How long can I defend the indefensible?” she asked.
Kakkar said she also saw how Rahul Gandhi launched a campaign against “traitor” Gyanesh Kumar, the chief election commissioner.
“He has made everyone, including us, aware of this issue. We have to make the public aware of how, according to Rahul Gandhi, our voting right is being stolen by Gyanesh Kumar and put into Prime Minister Modi's account. This has to stop," Kakkar said.
“Therefore, we must all come together now to support the Congress and Rahul Gandhi in his authentic fight to keep the idea of India alive,” Kakkar said.
Shyam Sundar Sharma said politics means hard work, sovereignty, commitment and dedication.
“This thinking exists only in the Congress. Other parties talk about casteism and communalism, but the Congress and Rahul Gandhi talk about humanism. Therefore, today I have decided to join the party,” he said.