New Delhi, Feb. 9 -- In November 2024 - months before the Delhi assembly elections - state minister Kailash Gahlot resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His new party fielded him for the polls on February 5, though from a different seat - Bijwasan instead of Najafgarh.

On Saturday, the popular Jat leader emerged victorious, comfortably winning the Bijwasan constituency by 11,276 votes. However, Gahlot was far from being the only leader to switch parties in these polls - in fact his rival Devinder Sehrawat, the Congress nominee for the seat, was also previously with the AAP, and had won the seat on that party's ticket.

In all, at least 40 leaders switched parties ahead of the assem...