In setback for Congress, Mateen Ahmed's son, daughter-in-law join AAP in Delhi

In a setback to the Congress, the son and daughter-in-law of its veteran Delhi unit leader and former five-time Seelampur MLA Mateen Ahmed joined AAP on Tuesday.

The development, however, might have caused some consternation in the ruling party, whose Seelampur MLA Abdul Rahman resigned as president of its minority cell.

AAP announced in a post on X that Congress leader Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed and his wife Shagufta Chaudhary joined the party after meeting former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also its convenor.

Shagufta Chaudhary is a councillor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

AAP insiders said there was speculation that the party might drop Abdul Rahman from Seelampur and replace him with Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed.

Later, Abdul Rahman announced his resignation as president of AAP's minority cell.

He said in a post on X, "Have taken this decision due to growing ideological distance. Hope the party and supporters will understand this step by me."

The Seelampur MLA, however, told PTI that he was not angry with the party and his decision to resign was due to his growing family responsibilities.

"It's good that the AAP family is growing," he told PTI after Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed's joining.

Asked about his post on X, he said "ideological differences" in a democratic political set-up were not "uncommon".

"I am not angry with the party. The thing is I have responsibilities of marrying off my daughters and I am the only working member. It was becoming difficult for me to devote time to the minority cell and I had already informed party leaders about it," he said.