Delhi election 2025: Huge setback for Arvind Kejriwal, 7 AAP MLAs resign 5 days before polls

Delhi Election 2025: In a significant setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) just days before the Delhi elections, seven MLAs, including Naresh Yadav from Mehrauli, have resigned from the party.

According to PTI report, these MLAs were disgruntled after being denied tickets for the February 5 polls and were touch with other parties.

The MLAs who resigned include,

• Naresh Yadav from Mehrauli
• Rajesh Rishi from Janakpuri
• Madanlal from Kasturba Nagar
• Bhawna Gaur from Palam
• Rohit Mehraulia from Trilokpuri
• BS Joon from Bijwasan
• Pawan Sharma from Adarsh Nagar

According to the AAP candidate list for the upcoming Delhi elections, the party has nominated Mukesh Goel for Adarsh Nagar, Pravin Kumar for Janakpuri, Surendra Bhardwaj for Bijwasan, Joginder Solanki for Palam, Ramesh Pehlwan for Kasturba Nagar, Naresh Yadav for Mehrauli, and Anjana Parcha for Trilokpuri.

Madan Lal, the outgoing MLA from Kasturba Nagar, claimed on Friday that he and six other party legislators had resigned from AAP's primary membership.

Lal said they had also sent their resignation letters to Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel.

Palam MLA Bhawna Gaur, in a letter addressed to the AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, said that she was quitting because she lost faith in him and the party.

"I hereby resign from the primary membership of Aam Aadmi Party as I have lost faith in you and the party. Please accept the same," Bhawna Gaur and Madan Lal wrote in two separate letters.

Naresh Yadav, the sitting AAP MLA from Mehrauli, resigned from the party on Friday after being denied a ticket for the upcoming 2025 Delhi Assembly elections. Initially given a ticket, Yadav returned it following allegations related to his conviction in the 2016 Quran desecration case, which led to his replacement by Mahender Chaudhary.

In his resignation letter, Naresh Yadav expressed his disillusionment with the party, stating, "I entered politics with the intention of practicing honest governance, but I no longer see that happening," and highlighted concerns about corruption within the AAP. He had previously announced that he would not contest the elections until he was acquitted in court, claiming innocence and asserting that the allegations against him were politically motivated.

All of these AAP MLAs are those who were not granted party tickets to contest in the 2025 Assembly elections, as the AAP has opted to field new candidates in their respective constituencies.

Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 and the votes counted on February 8.