Councillor who switched over to BJP returns to AAP

“The reason behind ‘ghar-wapsi’ is that we are not seasoned politicians and there is nobody in our family in politics. While remaining in BJP, I could not bear the wrongdoings. Our voices were suppressed, and we could not do any work like meeting the public and door-to-door contacts,” she further said.

“While I was in AAP, we used to leave our house in the morning and meet people at their homes personally. While I was in BJP, I felt like a caged bird, and no freedom was given. I was fed up with such a life, and decided to leave BJP,” she added.

Kothiya’s return comes after AAP councillor Manisha Kukadiya and her husband Jagdish Kukadiya, who too had joined BJP on February 5, returned to AAP a month later on March 15.

Crediting Kukadiya for her return, Kothiya said “I saw that Manisha Kukadiya returned to AAP from BJP and did not face any problems. so I too contacted AAP leaders and apologised.”

On being asked why she left AAP and switched over to BJP, Kothiya said that she had been “harassed” by an AAP councillor from Surat, and top party leaders did not take any action.

“My audio clip issue was sorted out and I have been elected by the public, so I will start working for the public issues in my ward area,” she added.

State AAP leader Gulab Singh Yadav said, “We have forgiven her and accepted her apology. Those who switched over to BJP are not seasoned politicians, they have lost their path, and once they realise this they will definitely return to our party. Here in our party, we treat all our party leaders and workers as family members.”

Kothiya’s return came just a few hours before the arrival of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Gujarat.

A total of 27 candidates from AAP were elected to SMC for the first time on February 2021. The areas they were elected from are dominated by the Patidar community. Earlier six AAP councillors had left and switched over to BJP, out of them two have returned.