Chandigarh, Feb 10 (IANS): Days after Punjab Leader of Opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa’s claim that 30 AAP MLAs of Punjab are in contact with them, the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday hit back, saying that even Bajwa's own party MLAs “are not in touch with him”.
AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang questioned Bajwa, “Are all Congress MLAs in touch with you? If they are, where is Sandeep Jakhar? Why did Raj Kumar Chabbewal leave the party?”
Kang said that Pratap Bajwa's own brother, Fatehjang Bajwa, left him and joined the BJP, and he could not stop him.
He said that Congress leaders, MLAs, and former MLAs are continuously leaving the party, yet Bajwa seems worried about AAP MLAs.
He added Pratap Bajwa is daydreaming.
“Bajwa is known for making baseless statements, and his claims never turn out to be true,” he claimed.
Kang also remarked that the current state of the Congress is such that, despite winning zero seats in Delhi, their leaders were celebrating in their office, dancing, and distributing sweets over BJP's victory.
Speaking of the meeting of Punjab MLAs and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann with Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, Kang said it was an organisational meeting.
“Kejriwal is the national convenor of the party. Such meetings are a regular part of any party's internal processes,” he added.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on February 8 ended the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) 12-year rule in Delhi, Opposition parties adopted an aggressive momentum to crumble its last “fortress” in Punjab that will go to the polls in 2027.
Responding to the party’s victory in Delhi with several AAP heavyweights, including national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Saurabh Bhardwaj losing, BJP leader and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu took a jibe at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, saying “it’s his turn to back the bags”.
“Today the whole country is celebrating the victory of Delhi’s BJP workers... When the BJP comes to power in Punjab, no one will have to sell their house, property, or land to go abroad. Everyone will get work here. This is PM Modi's vision,” he has said.
Bittu, a Congress rebel who belongs to Punjab, said state party chief Aman Arora may replace Bhagwant Mann as Chief Minister.
“It was in the news as Aman Arora has said that when Manmohan Singh who belonged to the Sikh community can become a PM, he can also become a Chief Minister. If he has said this, he is making a ground. Bhagwant Mann never went out,” the Union minister has said.
Missing no opportunity to pay AAP in the same coin as it impacted Congress’ political dynamics in Haryana’s Assembly polls in October last year by not having any alliance despite the anti-incumbency wave against the BJP, Congress legislator Bajwa has claimed on a news channel after AAP’s rout in the national capital that more than 30 AAP MLAs in Punjab are in touch with him.
Political observers believe that in the present political scenario, either the main Opposition Congress will form the next government in Punjab in the next Assembly elections if it controls infighting in the state unit or the breakaway group of AAP under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann will form the government by jumping ship and joining the BJP in the run-up to the polls.