CHANDIGARH: Hinting at the rift in the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) top leadership, Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Friday alleged that he is a victim of party’s internal conspiracy to remove him from his post.In a video that has gone viral in the social media, the senior party leader hit back at the state co-president of the party Balbir Singh, who had alleged that Khaira had taken cash from party workers at a function in Patiala recently.
“Recently, I had visited the Punjabi University in Patiala after which I went to the house of a party worker to have tea — in the presence of over 80 supporters. Three days back, a few party leaders and workers from Shatrana went to meet Balbir Singh for some work and Balbir told them that Khaira had taken money from party workers in Patiala to which one party worker objected and told him that he was present there and nothing of this sort had happened,’” said Khaira.
“He (Balbir) should retract his allegations and tender an apology to me or get an impartial inquiry done into these allegations,” he added. Khaira alleged that there is deep rooted conspiracy within the party to create a rift between him AAP National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Deputy Manish Sisodia, who is in-charge of party affairs in Punjab to get him removed from the post of leader of opposition in the state assembly.
Terming these allegations baseless and bogus, Balbir Singh said, “I have high regard for him (Khaira). Nothing of this sort happened. The person who is being quoted has made an utterly baseless claim. I don’t know that person,” he said. Last week, 16 party leaders, including some district chiefs, quit their posts to register their protest against state co-president Balbir Singh’s “arbitrary decisions” in the state.