Six corporators of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here in Gujarat have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of state cabinet minister Harsh Sanghavi.
Welcoming the AAP corporators into the party fold on late Friday night, Sanghavi, the Gujarat Home Minister, said "the country is now witnessing the true face of the AAP".
"AAP leaders spared nothing to defame Gujarat and the people of the state. Corporators of AAP joined the BJP with a pledge to develop their respective wards," he said.
One of the six corporators, Ruta Kheni, said she was influenced by the BJP's ideology and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership style.
Meanwhile, the AAP's state unit alleged that its corporators were being threatened and persuaded into defecting to the BJP.
AAP corporator Dipti Sakariya said in a video statement that she was offered money to join the party.
Rachna Hirpara, another AAP corporator, said: "Offers have been made to us ever since we won the election. BJP has been giving offers, and many corporators fell for it and took up to Rs 50 lakh to join the ruling party."
In the February 2021 Surat Municipal Corporation elections, the AAP bagged 27 wards in the 120-member civic body.
The Congress failed to open its account, while the BJP won 93 seats.
In February 2022, five AAP corporators had already switched to the BJP but one of them later rejoined the AAP.
With the latest defections, the AAP's strength in the Surat civic body has been reduced to 17.
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