NEW DELHI: Congress MP and former deputy chief minister of Punjab Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Monday predicted mid-term polls in the state, claiming that AAP MLAs would leave the party in large numbers following its poll debacle in Delhi.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal is set to meet Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, state ministers, and party MLAs in Delhi on Tuesday.
The meeting comes in the wake of AAP's rout in the Delhi Assembly elections and growing speculation about internal dissent in the party's Punjab unit.
Asked about the Delhi polls and its impact on Punjab, Randhawa told reporters, "He had said that 'if I am corrupt, don't vote for me'.
Now Delhiites have put their stamp and Kejriwal has lost badly.
One supremo says that no one is honest except him, his deputy CM (Manish Sisodia) lost, his jail minister lost.
"Their (AAP) meetings are taking place in Delhi, Kejriwal should have gone there (Punjab). Several of their MLAs are in contact with different parties. They will fall in such a manner and a number of people will leave the party. I would like to urge the high command that we desist from taking their MLAs and ministers," the Congress leader said.
Asked about reports claiming that AAP MLAs were in touch with the BJP, Randhawa said Mann has been in touch with Delhi for long.
"If they are in touch with them, I think Punjab will be harmed in the future," he said.
"There will be mid-term polls. If a few leaders go to the BJP then there will be bypolls. Bhagwant Mann has no control. So it is likely that there will be mid-term polls. If they (AAP MLAs) go, they will come in the Congress because the BJP has no future in Punjab," Randhawa said.
Hitting out at the Mann government, Randhawa said Punjab needs a government that works for the people.
"I need to ask Bhagwant Mann that there have been 12 hand-grenade attacks in Punjab, what has he done about it?" he said.