Hours after Delhi Minister Kailash Gahlot’s resignation from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), former BJP MLA Anil Jha joined AAP on Sunday in the presence of party’s national convenor and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Jha, a two-time BJP MLA from the Kirari Assembly constituency in North West Delhi, joined the party at an event in the national capital.

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Party insiders claim that Jha could replace the sitting AAP MLA from Kirari, in the Delhi Assembly polls due for next year.

Welcoming him into the party fold in a press conference, Kejriwal called Jha one of the biggest leaders of the Purvanchal community and his joining will boost the party in the upcoming assembly elections. “I welcome Jha to AAP. When people of UP and Bihar do not get better education and services in their state, they migrate to Delhi for education and employment. When the DDA failed to build houses for the poor, illegal colonies were built and a large number of people from Purvanchal lived in them,” he said

Both Congress and the BJP have done injustice to the people of Purvanchal. “When I became the CM, for the first time I started laying roads, sewers, and water pipelines in illegal colonies. We have laid water pipelines in 1650 out of 1750 illegal colonies,” the AAP chief added.

Kejriwal further accused the Centre of overlooking the Purvanchal community and questioned the BJP about the work done by them for the community.

Speaking to media persons after joining AAP, Jha said, “I thank those who weaved the fabric of social justice for the people of Purvanchal, Dalits, and backward classes. There is no place for Purvanchal in the party I used to work for. I thank Arvind Kejriwal who worked for the people of unauthorized colonies. If anyone is strengthening the slogan of social justice, it is Arvind Kejriwal. The people of Purvanchal, Magadh, and Awadh are standing with you.”