Gujarat: Former BJP MLA Yatin Oza to join AAP

Ahmedabad, Jul 9: Former BJP MLA Yatin Oza today said he was going to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He said he will meet Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Rajkot tomorrow morning and in New Delhi next week.

"This is an informal meeting with Kejriwal but you can consider myself as having already joined AAP. A formal meeting will take place in Delhi coming Tuesday," he told PTI.

Oza, a practising lawyer at Gujarat High Court, said after joining AAP he will target Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the "rampant corruption promoted by his government".

"I am aggrieved at the way Modi is attacking judiciary and such attacks are being made to weaken it. Second, Modi government did nothing to stop future trading of essential commodities as per his election promise and this has caused rise in prices of food items," Oza said, when asked about his reasons for joining AAP.

Modi had a "tacit understanding" with NCP president Sharad Pawar so as to counter Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, he said. "Third, there is a rampant corruption in the government and nothing is being done to address the problem.

The BJP today has become a party of two people - Modi and Amit Shah. I have heard grievances of party members who have been pushed out because they are not sycophants," he added.

Oza, who had once joined Congress and contested against Modi from Maninagar constituency in 2002 before coming to BJP, said as an AAP member he will corner Modi and the BJP government on corruption with documentary evidence. Oza was elected twice as BJP MLA from Sabarmati here. He parted ways with the party but later returned to BJP.

PTI