Former AAP minister Kapil Mishra joins BJP; was disqualified by Delhi Assembly Speaker under anti-defection law

New Delhi: Former minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government and disqualified MLA Kapil Mishra along with AAP women’s wing chief Richa Pandey joined the BJP on Saturday. The duo was welcomed by BJP national vice president Shyam Jaju and Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari at the party’s office on Pant Marg. [caption id=“attachment_3919955” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kapil Mishra. PTI[/caption] “I welcome Kapil Mishra and Richa Pandey into BJP and hope they will serve Delhi by following the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and philosophy of Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Syama Prasad Mookerjee”, Tiwari said. Delhi assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel earlier this month had disqualified Mishra under the anti-defection law after he campaigned for the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections in May. Mishra, elected from Karawalnagar seat, has challenged his disqualification in the Delhi High Court. Speculations over Mishra joining the BJP were making rounds since he started criticising the AAP supremo after being removed as a minister in May 2017. Subsequently, he grew close to many Delhi BJP leaders and often shared the stage with them at public events.