Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused the BJP of betraying the people of Punjab, hours after AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak joined the BJP. Four other MPs, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney are set to join BJP later.
Meanwhile, AAP in Punjab has accused the BJP of being anti-Punjab and using Chadha to split AAP ranks, a charge the BJP termed as baseless.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said BJP has always been ‘anti-Punjab’, warning that the people would teach a lesson to the traitors. “The party is bigger than any individual. The six MPs who have left do not represent Punjab. When they (the BJP) did not find anything against Bhagwant Mann, they tried to break the AAP,” Mann told the media “Punjabis love everyone from the bottom of their heart. But, if someone betrays Punjabis, then they never forget.”
Echoing the same at a press conference, AAP Punjab chief spokesperson Baltej Pannu alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was attempting to break AAP MPs through Chadha. He said that the aim was to weaken the party’s strength and voice in the Parliament. Pannu asserted that the AAP lawmakers continue to remain united.
“Our party has reports that Amit Shah has told Chadha that if he breaks seven MPs, then he will be made a Minister,” Pannu alleged.
He also claimed that the central agencies were being used to terrorise and put pressure on AAP MPs, but they will not succeed. “Through central agencies like ED, they (BJP) want to terrorise and put pressure on our MPs, but they won’t succeed,” he said.
Pannu said that attempts to break AAP has been underway ever since the party came to power in Punjab. “Ever since AAP came to power, regular attempts have been made to break it — be it through attempts to ‘buy’ our MLAs, use threats…but they remained firm as they had joined the party under a mission”.
He alleged that central agencies are misused when polls are approaching. “Wherever polls are near, the BJP government uses agencies like ED, CBI to target political opponents”, Pannu said adding, “We saw how the BJP government got cases registered even against our top leaders, and many were sent to jail. But nothing came out of these cases”.
Pannu attributed the recent ED raids to pressure on AAP MPs. “Now again, an attempt is being made to build pressure on our MPs. That is why we have recently seen some ED raids,” he said.
Pannu said AAP gave a lot of opportunities to Chadha but he ‘backstabbed’ the party at the behest of BJP and Shah. “AAP had given Raghav Chadha a lot, and he was sent to the Rajya Sabha at a young age. But at the BJP’s and Shah’s behest, Chadha is backstabbing the party. But this is Punjab. People do not forgive, and Chadha should understand this,” Pannu said.
Pannu said BJP plans to fight the 2027 Punjab elections but Punjabis will reject them. “But the way BJP is carrying out attacks on the Punjab government, on AAP party and on Punjabis, the people will reject them,” he said.
Responding to the allegations, Punjab BJP leader Vineet Joshi said, “AAP is levelling such baseless allegations,” and termed these as “baseless” and “a bundle of lies”.
