Hours after Delhi Meeting Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, the 76-year-old AAP MLA from Shahdara, introduced his retirement from energetic politics Thursday, former BJP MLA Jitender Singh Shunty joined the AAP within the presence of celebration chief Arvind Kejriwal.
Shunty, 62, had received from Shahdara on the BJP’s ticket within the 2013 Delhi polls. The AAP is now set to discipline him from the identical constituency instead of Goel within the Meeting polls slated for February 2025.
Aside from his political stint, Shunty has been a social activist. He’s dubbed the “Ambulance Man” of Delhi for his function in making certain the cremation of lifeless our bodies throughout the Covid pandemic. He helps individuals by offering them with emergency ambulance companies. He has additionally made his mark within the blood donation marketing campaign, donating blood himself for about 100 instances.
Shunty was awarded Padma Shri in 2021 for his social service work throughout the Covid pandemic.
He additionally runs an NGO, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Seva Dal, which is understood for cremating unclaimed our bodies and do their final rites as per the Hindu and Sikh spiritual rituals.
Shunty launched his NGO after witnessing an incident about 30 years in the past when he noticed a person accumulating burnt wooden at Delhi’s Nigambodh crematorium, considering that he was a thief. “I discovered it later that the person didn’t have cash to purchase wooden to cremate his son,” Shunty advised The Indian Specific earlier.
His political innings began in 2008 when he efficiently contested as an Unbiased candidate within the Municipal Company of Delhi (MCD) polls from the Jhilmil ward. Later, he joined the BJP.
After serving as an MCD councillor twice, Shunty fought his first Meeting election from Shahdara in 2013 as a BJP candidate, which he received by over 15,000 votes. Nevertheless, within the 2015 polls, he was defeated by the AAP’s Goel by over 11,700 votes.
At his induction occasion, Kejriwal welcomed Shunty into the AAP fold, saying “Shunty is famend not simply in Delhi or the nation but additionally internationally for his distinctive contributions to social service. For the previous 39 years, he has devoted himself selflessly to serving society. When many households refused to assert the our bodies of their family members out of worry throughout the pandemic, he was there.”
On his half, Shunty mentioned he had “distanced” himself from politics for a very long time regardless of having been elected as a public consultant thrice to deal with social work. He mentioned throughout the pandemic Kejriwal known as him to say that he additionally needed to contribute to this trigger. “That’s after I thought we share the identical objective,” he mentioned.
Shunty went on to say, “Initially, I used to be reluctant to return to politics, however Kejriwal ji satisfied me by saying that ‘we serve the wants of the residing, and also you serve the wants of the deceased – collectively, we will be sure that each susceptible particular person receives respect in life and dignity in loss of life’. His phrases resonated with me, and I realised this partnership may amplify my work and produce dignity to the poor throughout their lives and after their passing.”
Giving hints about his plan to contest the upcoming polls as an AAP candidate, Shunty mentioned: “For the primary time, the Delhi Meeting will deal with the human rights of the helpless and unclaimed deceased… I voluntarily determined to re-enter politics – not for energy, however as a medium to earn blessings.”
