CHANDIGARH: Both the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), claiming that many MLAs of the ruling party are likely to quit and desert it in the coming days.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that the defection of seven AAP MPs to the BJP would not make any difference in Punjab, as all these MPs are “rootless” and have no base in the state.
“Today it is just seven MPs, tomorrow it may be 50 legislators who may desert the AAP,” he noted, adding that the way the AAP distributed Rajya Sabha and Assembly tickets is well known.
Referring to members of the upper house in particular, he pointed out that they were mainly given to big industrialists and businessmen who helped the AAP in multiple ways.
He said that when they defected to the BJP, the AAP should not have been surprised, as they were never ideologically committed to the party and had joined it purely for their business interests.
Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said that the ongoing split within the AAP in the Rajya Sabha has laid bare the party’s true character, asserting that the crisis is not ideological but rooted in a struggle for control over Punjab’s resources and public money.
Bajwa claimed that the developments have confirmed long-standing concerns that AAP’s politics in Punjab has been driven less by governance and more by internal competition for access to the state exchequer.
“What is unfolding today is not a clash of principles but a conflict over power, patronage, and money,” he stated.
He added that the people of Punjab are now witnessing the collapse of a model that was projected as honest and reformist but has instead descended into infighting and serious allegations of corruption at the highest levels.
Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said the exodus of seven Rajya Sabha MPs from the AAP to the BJP was long in the making and claimed that a large number of AAP legislators would also join the BJP soon.
“AAP came to power on the promise of changing the system but itself got embroiled in corruption and scams. First the founding members of AAP left it. Now leaders like Sandeep Pathak and Raghav Chadha, who were the architects of AAP in Punjab, have also quit the party along with five other MPs,” he said.
Majithia claimed that a large number of AAP legislators were also likely to join the BJP in the coming days. “The beginning will be made from Jalandhar and Ludhiana and a situation may arise in which AAP may become a minority government and fall. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann may also allegedly join the BJP to save his ill-gotten wealth, including that which he has transferred to Australia,” he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Punjab president Sunil Jakhar welcomed the Rajya Sabha members who left the AAP and joined the BJP, stating that this would not only strengthen the party in Punjab but also mark the beginning of the decline of the AAP, which he described as one of the shortest-lived active parties in the country.
In a message shared on social media, Sunil Jakhar wrote, “A warm welcome to all the MPs who have left the sinking ship of AAP in time and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Due to poor governance, corruption, and lawlessness under AAP, the people of Punjab have become disillusioned with the party. Moreover, after the party abandoned public interest, even good people within it are now being compelled to leave.”
He said that due to its flawed policies, the AAP government in Punjab has distanced itself from the people.
He added that because of this inexperienced government, lawlessness and corruption have reached their peak in the state, and people no longer feel safe. “Gangsterism and drugs are consuming the youth,” he said.
He further alleged that the “remote control” system within the AAP does not allow capable individuals to function, as all control is centralised.
