AAP Rebel Councillor Apologises, Says Going Against Party's Will Was 'Mistake'

AAP councillor from Trilokpuri, Vijay Kumar, on Wednesday apologised to the party leadership for nominating himself for the post of deputy mayor and called it a "mistake".

"I am a Municipal Councillor from Trilokpuri and will remain so. I apologise to the top leadership, Arvind Kejriwal ji, Manish Sisodiya ji, Durgesh Pathak ji and Atishi ji for my mistakes," Kumar said on social media platform X.

"I also want to apologise to my elder brother Kuldeep Kumar. We all are soldiers of the Aam Aadmi Party. We all stand shoulder to shoulder with the popular chief minister of Delhi in his difficult phase," he added.

Kumar was one of the two 'rebel' candidates, who had filed a nomination for the post of deputy mayor against the party's choice earlier in April.

AAP councillor Narendra Kumar from Manglapuri ward had also filed his nomination for the post.

Kumar had later also accused the AAP of pressurising him to withdraw the nomination.

"I have filed a nomination, will fight the election and also win. I request you not to put pressure on my family. You people talk about democracy, but there is no democracy in the party," he wrote in a post on X.

"Filing a nomination is my personal decision, and I request not to involve my family in politics. It is my job to serve the public and do politics. The doors of my house are always open for you; you can come anytime, but I again request you not to put any kind of pressure on my family," he had written in another post.

Responding to the allegation, the AAP had said the BJP was trying to dismantle the party and said, "We are fighting with a demonic power called BJP. They will try all deceitful tricks and tactics imaginable to unsettle AAP." The MCD mayoral elections have been postponed due to non-appointment of the presiding officer by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena due to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's absence as he is lodged in jail.

The AAP had fielded Devnagar ward councillor Mahesh Khichi as the party's candidate for the mayor's post and Ravinder Bhardwaj for the post of deputy mayor.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)