Amid the impending reorganisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit, two leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), including chairman of the Ghazipur Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), joined the saffron party on Saturday. Raj Kumar Ballan resigned from the post of chairman of the Ghazipur APMC prior to taking the BJP's membership. AAP Purvanchal wing vice president Anil Jha also joined the party. This will be Ballan’s second stint with the BJP following his decision to leave it for the AAP in 2021. Welcoming him into the party’s fold, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva took the opportunity to target Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal whose policies were blamed by Ballan as well for his decision to return to the BJP. “He (Ballan) is an example of the fact that there is a huge difference between Arvind Kejriwal's words and actions,” Sachdeva said. Northeast Delhi Parliamentarian and BJP leader Manoj Tiwari said, “His (Ballan's) joining the BJP is a big political development. This is a question mark on the Kejriwal government; today, a large number of people are unhappy with the rules and policies of the Kejriwal government and despite holding big posts, they want to leave the Aam Aadmi Party.” Ballan accused the AAP of being a “non-communicative party” and said that he had joined it in the hope of “doing good politics” but “only faced disappointment” in the last two years. Leaders from the AAP did not comment on the development at the time of going to the press.
