NEW DELHI: Former Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar joined the Congress on Saturday, saying she could no longer defend the “indefensible”.After joining Congress, Kakkar praised Rahul Gandhi, calling him a resilient leader and saying she had seen how he and the party continued to withstand attacks against them.“If there is one leader who is not afraid to promote his ideas, it is Rahul Gandhi. I observed that he is the only leader who has not shed tears for the cameras. He is the only leader today who has not done that. He is resilient. I have seen how he was humiliated and how an entire machinery was deployed to put him down. But Rahul Gandhi and the Congress remained resilient,” Kakkar said.“Their authenticity is their soul. I saw that there is a soul in this party as well, which I found missing in other parties. And I say this from lived experience,” she added.Explaining her decision to leave AAP, Kakkar referred to what she described as a shift in the party’s functioning and leadership.“There was a time when it was said that AAP would not take a bungalow or a car. But later, choppers started being used for private travel, and I could no longer defend the indefensible,” she said.“I drew a line when I saw that the Aam Aadmi Party, which at one point had attracted people with great substance and intelligence, was unable to retain them,” Kakkar added.She also criticised the appointment of people to senior positions in Punjab, saying, “Who are the people being brought in now? New people who have not even worked at the booth level are being brought from Rajasthan and given senior positions in Punjab, along with bungalows and cars.”
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“How long can I defend the indefensible?” she added.Kakkar also backed Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing criticism of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the electoral-roll revision and his allegations concerning voter rights. Gandhi has been demanding Kumar’s resignation and has accused the Election Commission of irregularities in the electoral process.“I also saw how Rahul Gandhi has continuously launched a campaign against traitor Gyanesh Kumar. He has made everyone, including us, aware of this issue,” Kakkar said.“We have to make the public aware of how, according to him, our only voting right is being stolen by Gyanesh Kumar and put into PM Modi’s account. This has to stop.”“Therefore, we must all come together now to support the Congress and support Rahul Gandhi in his authentic fight to keep the idea of India alive,” she added.