CHANDIGARH: With a year left for the Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday accused Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini of attempting to lure one of its MLAs to quit the party and join the BJP under its alleged “Operation Lotus”.
Addressing a press conference at the party office, AAP MLA from Sangrur, Narinder Kaur Bharaj, along with AAP Punjab State Media In-charge Baltej Pannu, alleged that the BJP was running “Operation Lotus” across the country to topple elected governments.
Bharaj claimed that she was called for a meeting where Saini offered to induct her into the BJP. “He offered to ensure that I would be fielded as the BJP candidate from Sangrur and asked me if I had any other demands. I sought time and returned, because I would never betray my party,” she said. She alleged that Saini tempted her with a BJP ticket from Sangrur and assured her that any demand she made would be fulfilled, including offering a closed-door meeting.
She further said she had joined the AAP in 2014 at the age of 19, inspired by the policies of Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Singh Mann. “I am that worker who has put up posters for the party. Only the Aam Aadmi Party can give a small farmer’s daughter the honour of becoming an MLA at the age of 27,” she said.
Bharaj added that the way Saini had been visiting Punjab frequently suggested that the BJP had sent him to the state “on deputation”. She advised him to focus on Haryana instead. “The people of Punjab and AAP MLAs stand like a rock with Mann and Kejriwal,” she said.
“Every worker, MLA and minister of the AAP is united. We have entered politics to change the system and to provide health and education facilities, not to indulge in horse-trading. We are fully prepared for the 2027 elections, and such cheap tactics of the BJP cannot shake us,” Bharaj added.
AAP Punjab State Media In-charge Baltej Pannu alleged that the BJP was once again trying to undermine democracy in Punjab through “Operation Lotus”. “This is not the first time the BJP has tried to buy AAP MLAs, but they forget that Punjabis are known for their honour,” he said.
Pannu also criticised the “Haryana model”, alleging that people there were suffering due to expensive electricity. “Punjab follows the model of Kejriwal and Mann, where facilities like free electricity and SSF exist, which are nowhere to be seen in your failed Haryana model,” he said.
Responding to the allegations, Parveen Attrey, media adviser to Chief Minister Saini, dismissed them as baseless. “No meeting ever took place between the Chief Minister and Bharaj. AAP came to power making certain promises, including Rs 1,000 to every woman, which they have failed to fulfil. They are using such baseless diversionary tactics,” he said.
Meanwhile, the AAP also announced its support for the nationwide Bharat Bandh called on February 12 by 10 central trade unions and farmer organisations, intensifying the political battle over labour and agrarian reforms. The party condemned what it termed the Union government’s anti-worker labour policies and anti-farmer economic decisions, and said its cadres across Punjab and the rest of the country would join the shutdown alongside workers and farmers.
An AAP spokesperson alleged that the BJP-led Union government had launched a direct attack on workers’ rights by implementing new labour codes, claiming these had reduced job security, weakened legal protections and given employers unchecked powers in matters of hiring and retrenchment. The spokesperson added that the support extended to the bandh by farmer organisations showed that the government’s economic policies had adversely affected both workers and farmers.