Former Karnataka Congress politician Brijesh Kalappa, a well-known face of the party on television networks, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday, claiming that after serving the party for 25 years, he was never considered for a “leadership role.”
Kalappa, a Supreme Court counsel, resigned from the Congress on 30 May, alleging a “lack of passion and excitement” for the party, despite having participated in 6,497 discussions for the party in different English, Hindi, and Kannada channels since 2013.
Brijesh, who has served as legal advisor to the chief minister, additional advocate general in Haryana and advocate in the river dispute legal teams of Karnataka, said, “Talent counts for nothing in Congress. Even if I worked in that party for 50 years, I would remain a mere worker.”
Kalappa, who joined the Congress in 1997 and later worked as a legal counsel to Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah-led government, began his career as a journalist roughly 30 years ago. Following a brief career in the media, he began practising law in New Delhi under the tutelage of prominent Congress politician Kapil Sibal. Notably, Sibal resigned from the Congress in May and was elected to the Rajya Sabha with the support of the Samajwadi Party.
Kalappa’s decision to join AAP comes at a time when the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is attempting to expand its reach beyond Punjab, where it won a landslide win in March.
Karnataka will have legislative elections next year. AAP also intends to run in the Bengaluru municipal elections later this year.
