Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Kailash Gahlot on Sunday resigned from the party and the government on November 17, months ahead of the scheduled assembly polls in the national capital.

Gahlot, the Najafgarh MLA and the Transport minister in the Atishi-led AAP government, is the second serving minister to quit Arvind Kejriwal-led party and government this year. On April 10, social welfare minister Raaj Kumar Anand resigned.

There has been speculation about Gahlot’s rift with the party for quite some time now. He did not take part in party’s campaign in recently-held Haryana elections. Gahlot’s exit marks the culmination of his rift with the party and his resignation is linked to the Delhi Liquor Policy case.

Division of Portfolios

Gahlot’s dissatisfaction started soon after the arrest of Manish Sisodia, the then deputy chief minister, by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Liquor Policy Case in March 2023. Sisodia held as many as 18 portfolios including health, education, revenue, power, water, finance and home. 

Sisodia’s ministries were distributed between Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi, who is now the Chief Minister of Delhi.

Worse, the the Law and Justice Department was also taken away from Gahlot and given to Atishi. This clearly indicated that the party’s top leadership didn’t trust Gahlot much, according to reports.

Gahlot, the two-time MLA and a senior minister, perhaps didn’t like promotion of Atishi, a first-time MLA, with the responsibility of important portfolios in the government, said a leader who did not want to be named. And when Atishi became Chief Minister, Gahlot felt his importance in the government and the party is diminishing, the leader said.

Proximity to L-G

Gahlot was known as someone close to Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena. The L-G attended many events of the Transport Department along with Gahlot, which was not the case with other AAP ministers

Former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was in jail at the time, had delegated Atishi to hoist the flag on Independence Day, 2024. But Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena intervened and, instead asked, Gahlot to do the formalities. Eventually Gahlot hoisted the Tricolour.

In his resignation letter, Gahlot cited “dwindling credibility” of AAP on the issue of cleaning of Yamuna and ‘Sheeshmahal’ – a term used by the BJP for the chief minister’s renovated residence as reasons for his resignation.

Gahlot is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and contest the 2024 Delhi assembly polls from Najafgarh seat. Soon after his resignation on Sunday, AAP took ‘Modi Washing Machine’ jibe at the opposition BJP. 

“Kailash Gahlot’s resignation is a part of BJP’s dirty politics and controversy. Kailash Gahlot was being pressured through ED-CBI raids and he is speaking as per the BJP’s script. The Modi Washing Machine has been activated ahead of Delhi elections. Now many leaders will be taken into BJP through this,” AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.