Curious story of Delhi Cong councillors joining AAP and then returning within hours

“The protest could have turned violent had it not been for Sabila ji‘s (Sabila Begum, Congress councillor from Mustafabad) timely decision to rejoin the Congress party,” said Javed, a caretaker in Sabila Begum’s Mustafabad office.

Gali number 20 in Northeast Delhi’s Mustafabad saw widespread protest on Friday evening as video clippings of two newly elected Congress councillors — Sabila Begum from Mustafabad and Nazia Khatoon from Brijpuri wards — along with state unit vice-president Ali Mehdi defecting to the Aam Aadmi party surfaced.

Addressing the press earlier in the day at the AAP office, Mehdi said he was impressed with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s work and wanted similar development in his area.

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In the Mustafabad ward, which is reserved for women, the AAP had fielded Nasreen Akhtar and the BJP, Shabnam, both of whom lost to Congress’ Sabila Begum.

The fateful night

“How can I forget the fateful night? Around 70 people had gathered outside our office with sticks and stones. They kept asking me to open the gate, but I refused as I could sense that something wasn’t right. These people had come to vandalise the property,” Javid recounted.

“Rallies were taken out and effigies were burnt. Sensing trouble, I quickly shifted people from the first floor to a safer location. Children were crying as the protestors kept shouting and hitting the iron gate with sticks. Had the councillors not returned to the Congress, people would have surely resorted to violence,” added Javed.

The questionable induction

Party workers assembled in the Congress office said that the press conference at the AAP office and the subsequent announcement of these individuals joining the AAP came as a shock to them.

“Ali Mehdi, Nazia Khatoon and Haji Mohammad Khushnood (Sabila Begum’s husband) had gone to the AAP office to discuss development issues — roads, school infrastructure and medical facilities in the area — and had no clue about their induction into AAP,” Congress workers said.

However, the explanation seemed to be a face-saving effort as Ali Mehdi had expressed his intention to join the party and lauded Kejriwal’s work at the press conference.

Over the years, Mustafabad has become a Congress stronghold. Former Congress MLA Hasan Ahmed, father of Ali Mehdi, exercises considerable influence in the area. Residents feel that although the two councillors along with the state vice-president have re-joined the party, it may not be the same any more.

“Ali Mehdi has defamed Hasan’s name. People have always related to Hasan and Congress candidates have triumphed in polls. Although Ali has tendered an apology, it will be very difficult for him to reclaim the respect and the support previously enjoyed by his father,” a resident said.

Mustafabad was one of the many areas impacted during the 2020 Delhi riots. “When all the parties have turned their backs on us, Congress has stood by us. Even during the riots, when many of our boys were falsely implicated, former Congress MLA Hasan Ahmed tried his best to help us by accompanying us to the police station. Whereas we received no help from our AAP legislator despite efforts to contact him. As a community, we want someone to stand up for our rights and fight for us. That’s the real issue,” said Intezaar Malik, a resident of Mustafabad.

Different view

However, Ishraat, an ASHA worker, had a different take on the entire episode. She feels that with AAP running the Delhi government and now the corporation, the three councillors could have done a much more with AAP than the Congress.

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“I am saying this purely in terms of development of our area. The present AAP legislator Haji Yonus hasn’t done anything for our area. Now, with these councillors returning back to the Congress fold, they have to run around for funds. But, if they had remained with AAP, the funding problem would have been solved,” said Ishraat.

The situation arose because the anti-defection law does not apply to the municipal corporation; they can cross vote or change party affiliations. This might have tempted the councillors to switch sides after the election.