New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Five-time municipal councillor and senior Congress leader Mukesh Goel joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday, ahead of the civic polls in Delhi early next year.

Along with Goel, about a dozen office-bearers of the Congress, including two-time former councillor Parma Bhai Solanki, also joined the AAP here in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister and senior party leader Manish Sisodia.

Also Read | Tamil Nadu: Seven Men, Including Former Tamil Nadu Minister's Son Arrested for Robbing Truck Carrying Cashew Nuts Worth Rs 1.1 Crore in Namakkal.

In a statement, the AAP described the development as a "big setback" to the Congress ahead of the municipal elections.

"It is a very happy occasion that our AAP family is expanding further. Goelji, who is joining us along with his supporters, is a big Congress leader," Sisodia said.

Also Read | Maharashtra Shocker: Woman Helps Paramour Rape Her Minor Daughter in Aurangabad, Arrested.

Goel, who is serving his fifth term as a municipal councillor in the national capital, was a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), he added.

Welcoming the other leaders into the partyfold, Sisodia said the development indicates a trend where Congress leaders, who want to work for people, are joining the AAP, impressed by the policies and work done under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"Arvind Kejriwal's model of development is being discussed today not just in Delhi but all over the country. I am quitting the Congress and joining the AAP as I do not consider it right to oppose a party that is working in the interest of people," Goel said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)