New Delhi, 10 July (H.S.): In a significant political development in the national capital, the Indraprastha Vikas Party formally merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday. The party's convenor, Mukesh Goyal, along with 15 councillors, joined the BJP in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Delhi BJP President Harsh Malhotra, who welcomed them into the party.

On the occasion, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta welcomed Indraprastha Vikas Party convenor Mukesh Goyal, Hemchand and the other councillors into the BJP family. She said that Delhi is currently being governed through a four-engine government and described the merger of the Indraprastha Vikas Party with the BJP as a positive development for the entire city.

The Chief Minister said that political power should not be viewed as a means of enjoying authority but as a platform for serving the people. She added that everyone must work together to build a clean and healthy Delhi while ensuring the successful implementation of a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption.

Speaking on the occasion, Delhi BJP President Harsh Malhotra welcomed the Indraprastha Vikas Party into the BJP. He said that a group of councillors, dissatisfied with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), had parted ways last year to form the Indraprastha Vikas Party under the leadership of Mukesh Goyal. Their decision to join the BJP, he said, reflected their confidence in the party's ideology and development-oriented governance.

Commenting on the issue of waterlogging in Delhi, Malhotra said that during the two recent spells of rainfall, the capital had not witnessed any major incidents of waterlogging. He added that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi had undertaken extensive preparations before the onset of the monsoon and continues to work to ensure that residents face minimal inconvenience during the rainy season.

The councillors who joined the BJP from the Indraprastha Vikas Party are Mukesh Goyal, Hemchand Goyal, Devendra Kumar, Manisha Jasveer Karala, Usha Sharma, Anil Rana, Dinesh Bhardwaj, Bobby Kinnar, Ronakshi Sharma, Ashok Pandey, Sahib Kumar, Rakhi Yadav, Rajesh Ladi, Himani Jain, Kamal Bhardwaj and Leena Kumari.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar