Seven AAP MPs jump ship: Punjab CM Mann to seek President’s intervention

Chandigarh, April 25 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has sought time to meet President Droupadi Murmu along with his party’s MLAs to present his stance on the recall of seven Rajya Sabha members who have joined the BJP.

It is learnt on Saturday that CM Mann is expected to raise the issue of the seven MPs’ defection and argue for their recall during the meeting.

The development comes a day after seven AAP Rajya Sabha members -- Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Swati Maliwal and Vikramjit Sahney -- announced their decision to quit the AAP and join the BJP. Except for Swati Maliwal, six other MPs represent Punjab in the Upper House. Since seven out of 10 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs have jumped ship together with a strength of two-thirds, none of them is expected to attract disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, commonly known as the anti-defection law.

Had Raghav Chadha or any other MP acted alone, he would have risked losing his Rajya Sabha seat under the anti-defection law. However, it does not apply when at least two-thirds of the members of a legislative party merge with another one.

Meanwhile, AAP workers protested outside the office and residence of three MPs -- Rajinder Gupta in Ludhiana and Ashok Mittal and Harbhajan Singh in Jalandhar.

Asserting that ever since strict laws against ‘beadbi’ (sacrilege) were enacted, the BJP’s unease has been evident, CM Mann said: “The BJP struggles to accept decisive action on an issue deeply tied to the state’s sentiments”. He said the BJP, which has repeatedly faced rejection in Punjab, has responded with hostility towards both the state and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), attempting to weaken a corruption-free government through intimidation, inducements, and efforts to engineer defections.

Condemning both those leaving the party and those facilitating such moves, CM Mann said the BJP’s lack of political ground has pushed it towards such tactics even as visible improvements in schools, hospitals, roads, and employment have unsettled it.

CM Mann told the media here, “The wise and brave people of Punjab will never forgive the traitors who have backstabbed them for their own vested interests. Punjabis have never forgotten acts of betrayal, and those who deceived them have vanished into political oblivion.”

He said the BJP’s political strategy across the country has been to weaken regional forces. “The BJP only knows how to break other parties because it lacks credible leadership. They tried to break Mamata Banerjee’s party, divided Uddhav Thackeray’s party, and Sharad Pawar’s party met the same fate. Leaders like Naveen Patnaik, Dushyant Chautala and Nitish Kumar have also been targeted through similar manoeuvres.”

“The BJP must remember that its tactics will not succeed in Punjab. Punjabis will teach it a lesson for this treachery,” the Chief Minister added.

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