CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) might lose the status of main opposition party in Punjab after one of its legislators on Thursday joined the ruling Congress and another resigned from the state assembly after forming his own party. Two other party MLAs have already sent their resignations to the assembly speaker.
The Congress got a major boost in Bathinda parliamentary constituency with sitting AAP MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia joining the party. The 56-year engineering graduate from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College had won the 2017 assembly elections from Mansa, polling about 40 per cent votes.
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh said his entry would further strengthen the Congress and added that like-minded people from other parties, who had the interests of the state at heart, were joining the Congress in Punjab. It was a clear sign of complete disillusionment within the AAP, which had lost its locus standi amid a party-wide rebellion, he added.
Manshahia said the AAP had completely lost the narrative in Punjab, with no positive agenda or ideology to guide it.
Another AAP rebel MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira who had some time back floated his own political party, the Punjabi Ekta Party (PEP), has also resigned from the state assembly. In his resignation sent to the speaker Rana KP Singh, Khaira stated that in order to uphold ethics and morality since he is filing his nomination for Bathinda Lok Sabha seat on Friday, he has decided to relinquish his MLA seat of Bholat.
Khaira along with five other MLAs of the AAP had parted ways and formed the PEP which is contesting the elections as part of the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA).
Two other AAP MLAs HS Phoolka and Master Baldev Singh had earlier resigned from the party as well as from the state assembly. Although they have sent their resignation to the speaker, till date it has not been accepted. Baldev Singh is contesting as the PDA nominee from the Faridkot Lok Sabha seat.
Once all these four resignations are accepted, the strength of the AAP will reduce from 20 to 16 legislators in the 117-strong state assembly. The strength of the SAD-BJP alliance is 17 MLAs (14 SAD and 3 BJP MLAs), thus making it the main opposition. The two Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) MLAs who were in an alliance with the AAP had earlier parted ways and are now part of the PDA.