By Even as former AAP leader and Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot resigned from the Cabinet and party and joined the BJP on Monday in the presence of Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the Aam Aadmi Party has picked Nangloi Jat MLA Raghuvinder Shokeen to replace him.
Former Congress MLA from Matiala, Somesh Shokeen — another Delhi Jat leader — also joined the AAP in the presence of Arvind Kejriwal.
Sources in the BJP said Gahlot has been promised a ticket from Najafgarh constituency for the upcoming polls. In the AAP Cabinet, Gahlot had held portfolios including transport, home, administrative reforms, IT, and women and child development. Several important projects were also under his charge, including the electrification of bus depots, induction of electric buses, and one of AAP’s poll promises – Mahila Samman Rashi schemes under which former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced an honorarium of Rs 1,000 per month to all women aged 18 to 60.
It is not clear what portfolios will be given to Shokeen but party insiders said he is likely to get charge of the departments held by Gahlot and could be entrusted with the execution of the Mahila Samman Rashi scheme before the Assembly polls.
According to sources, Raghuvinder Shokeen is a two-time MLA from Nangloi Jat constituency who joined the AAP in 2015. Before that, he was with the BJP and had served as a councillor with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), both as a BJP member and as an Independent. AAP leaders said he has been with the party since the day of its inception and has been working with senior leaders. A civil engineer by profession and an educationist, Shokeen runs several primary schools in villages and several other places in Delhi.
A senior AAP leader said, “Shokeen is a Jat face and his presence will influence voters living in the rural parts of the city and attract them towards the AAP. Jat vote percentage is only 4-5 per cent in Delhi but his image will help garner more votes and he has a larger presence among people. Rural parts of Delhi also have a growing population of labourers from western UP and Bihar who have settled in unauthorised colonies. So, having him as a minister will have a major impact ahead of the polls.” The leader added that Shokeen is often seen having discussions with the people in his constituency.
