The latest high-profile defection in Delhi might be that of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kailash Gahlot to the BJP. But over the last two months, Congress leaders in Delhi, especially its former MLAs, have been joining the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.

The rise of the AAP in Delhi has come at the cost of the Congress’s decline. The last time the Congress was in power in Delhi was in 2008, when it won 43 of the National Capital’s 70 Assembly seats. Riding on the strength of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, the AAP, in its first election in Delhi in 2013, won 28 seats.

At the time, the Congress had given support to the AAP, and Arvind Kejriwal went on to become Chief Minister. However, he resigned 49 days later after failing to table the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly.

In the 2015 Assembly polls that followed, the Congress failed to win a single seat and has since struggled to stay relevant. The party could not win a seat even in the 2020 Assembly polls. Internally too, the Congress has faced a leadership vacuum in Delhi, failing to replace former CM Sheila Dixit.

At the moment, the battle in Delhi has almost become bipolar between the AAP and the BJP.

The defections from the Delhi Congress to the AAP began in October, when Zubair Chaudhary, a Congress district president considered to have significant influence in Delhi’s Babarpur area, joined the AAP along with his wife and MCD councillor Shagufta Chaudhary. Shortly after, Zubair’s father, Mateen Chaudhary, a veteran Congress leader and five-time MLA, also switched sides.

Since then, the defections have continued. Veer Singh Dhingan, a three-time Congress MLA from Seemapuri, joined the AAP on November 14. More recently, on November 19, Sumesh Shokeen, a former MLA and four-time candidate from Matiala, joined the ruling party.

Dhingan was Seemapuri MLA consecutively between 1998 to 2013 but faced successive defeats to AAP in recent years, securing only 8.4% of the vote in 2015 and 5.7% in 2020. Meanwhile, Shokeen, who won Matiala in 2008, has struggled since, finishing third in subsequent elections.

Despite their recent losses, the AAP believes these leaders still have a base in their respective areas and has said it will give them tickets from their respective old seats. Chaudhary is expected to replace AAP sitting MLA Abdul Rehman in Seelampur, while Dhingan will contest from Seemapuri, replacing Rituraj Govind. Shokeen will contest from Matiala, in the place of Gulab Singh Yadav, the AAP announced on Thursday.

“We have put aside our differences (these former Congress MLAs) and recognised that voters in these constituencies have begun to view these former MLAs more favourably than our current ones. Voters often reminisce about how the previous MLA was more effective, which is why these new joiners are likely to be our picks for these seats,” said a senior AAP leader.

But Congress leaders downplayed the impact of these exits.

“Once we are on the ground, it becomes clear who holds sway in a constituency,,” said Anil Bharadwaj, the head of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee’s (DPCC) communication wing.

DPCC chief Devender Yadav described the defections as opportunistic. “This is the season of defections. Earlier, the BJP bought leaders it accused of being corrupt. Now, AAP, which used to criticise the BJP’s practices, is doing the same. These individuals felt insecure about their positions and were easily swayed,” he said.

Sandeep Dikshit, a former Congress MP, said one of Kejriwal’s major planks was the allegations of corruption against Congress MLAs such as Dhingan and Shokeen.

“I strongly believe that there is no case (against Dhingan and Shokeen) but he accused them of links with the ration and land mafias. Now, he is praising them for their development work while inducting them … The voters cannot be fooled.”

In an attempt to energise its cadre, the Congress has also undertaken a yatra in Delhi along the lines of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. It is currently underway in all 70 Assembly constituencies.