AAP Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal on Sunday said that fellow MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney, one of the seven lawmakers who recently quit the party to join the BJP, had approached him to be part of a proposed “Azaad group,” but he declined the offer.
According to a PTI report, Seechewal expressed shock over the sudden exit of the seven MPs from the Aam Aadmi Party, calling it an act of “bewafai” (betrayal). He said the party had sent them to the Rajya Sabha to represent Punjab’s concerns.
The development comes after seven of AAP’s 10 Rajya Sabha MPs, including Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Sahney, and Swati Maliwal—resigned and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging that AAP had drifted away from its founding principles. Six of them are from Punjab.
PTI reported that Seechewal claimed Sahney had called him on Friday morning, saying an “Azaad group” of Rajya Sabha members was being formed to raise Punjab-related issues and that several MPs had already agreed to join. “I told him clearly that I have no intention of joining,” Seechewal said.
He added that he later learned through media reports about the MPs quitting AAP and joining the BJP.
Reiterating their responsibility, Seechewal said the MPs were expected to raise Punjab’s issues in Parliament on behalf of the party that nominated them. “They had a duty towards the party… but they have committed ‘bewafai’,” he said, as quoted by PTI.
He also expressed particular surprise over the decisions of Chadha and Pathak, saying they had held significant influence in Punjab. Seechewal further alleged that he was rarely given opportunities to speak in the Rajya Sabha, claiming that Chadha and Pathak dominated most debates.
“I raised issues only during Zero Hour or through Special Mentions,” he said, according to PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
