Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Minister Sardar Harsharan Singh Balli joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday. Balli joined the party in the presence of Delhi BJP chief Virendraa Sachdeva along with other party leaders like Subhash Arya and Subhash Sachdeva. Along with Balli, his son Sardar Gurmeet Singh ‘Rinku’ Balli also joined the BJP.

Balli returns after 4 years

Balli’s return to the BJP came about four years later. In January 2020, he left the saffron party to join AAP in the presence of then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and then Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. Balli was the MLA from Hari Nagar assembly constituency from 1993 to 2013 and also served as Industries minister during Madan Lal Khurana’s government in Delhi.

BJP and AAP face off

Recently, the AAP government and the BJP in Delhi were at loggerheads over deteriorating air quality and increasing air pollution in the national capital. Two weeks ago, Delhi BJP leaders held a protest against Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann at Kapurthala House over air pollution concerns and reported that 108 incidents of stubble burning were recorded in Punjab. A delegation of leaders wanted to hold a meeting with the Punjab CM to submit a memorandum but could not meet him.

Delhi BJP chief Sachdeva stated that 108 cases of stubble burning were reported in Punjab on October 26 alone, but ministers from the Delhi government often blamed the neighboring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

(With input from institutions)

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