CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab is in turmoil a day after Sukhpal Singh Khaira was removed from the post of Leader of Opposition by the party’s national leadership, with nine of the 20 AAP legislators in the state seeking a review of the decision.
Sources said that ten party MLAs, including Kanwar Sandhu, held an hour-long meeting at the residence of Khaira here, and asked the party high command to review the decision to remove Khaira from post of leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly. They have written a letter in this regard to the party high command. Khaira also announced a state-level workers’ convention in Bathinda on August 2. Bathinda is part of the Malwa heartland that sent the maximum number of AAP MLAs to the Assembly.
Flanked by the MLAs, Khaira called the party’s decision arbitrary, and said it must be revoked. Sandhu said Khaira’s removal was announced on Twitter without any intimation to Khaira. He said nine lawmakers had sent a signed letter to party head Arvind Kejriwal asking him to resolve the crisis. He also claimed that many state office-bearers and zonal leaders had sent their resignations, but none had been accepted so far. Sandhu has quit the post of spokesperson of the AAP Legislative Party in Punjab. A party legislator said that efforts were on to defuse the situation by convincing Khaira to avoid further confrontation with the state and national units.