Political activists of various parties and panchayat members on Thursday flew from J&K to Delhi where they are expected to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday in the presence of chief minister and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal. More than 100 panchayat members from UT are also likely to join the party.
Among the politicians likely to join AAP we re from the Congress, Panthers Party and also a dentist from Jammu. Chairman of the Panthers Party and a former education minister Harshdev Singh is already camping in Delhi and his pictures with deputy CM Manish Sisodia appeared in the social media on Wednesday. Harshdev reportedly had a tiff recently with the Panthers Party supremo Bhim Singh after which he was in touch with the AAP leadership.
Two other former Panther Party legislators, Balwant Singh Mankotia and Yash Paul Kundal were also tipped to join the AAP. Kundal, who twice won the assembly election from Samba, had recently said that he was quitting Panthers Party. Mankotia earlier represented the Udhampur constituency.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that Mankotia had reservations on the joining of Harshdev in the AAP. Both Harshdev and Mankotia are related to Bhim Singh.
While the AAP is witnessing hectic activity in its office that it has opened in the Gandhi Nagar colony here, the BJP Vice-President and incharge of J&K Tarun Chugh recently said that AAP was just like a bubble that would soon burst.
There were reports of a senior Congress leader Hameeed Qarra being in touch with the top leadership of AAP. But it is not certain whether he would immediately join the AAP or not. A prominent National Conference leader and member of the District Development Committee (DDC) from the border area of Ranbirsinghpura in Jammu is also likely to quit the party and join the AAP.
The landslide victory of AAP in the neighbouring Punjab has triggered excitement in political circles in J&K as a result of which several leaders were heading towards the AAP.