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AAP defection row: Mann, rebel MPs led by Raghav Chadha to meet President Murmu separately today
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and rebel RS members will meet President Murmu over AAP members' switch to BJP, discussing political concerns and alleged vendetta.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann and rebel Rajya Sabha members led by Raghav Chadha will separately meet President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday over the latter’s switch from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Seven members of Parliament, constituting two-thirds of the AAP’s total strength of 10 in the upper house, had joined the BJP on April 24. They included Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney (all from Punjab), and Swati Maliwal (Delhi). Mann is scheduled to meet the President at 12 noon, where he plans to make a case for the “recall” of the Rajya Sabha members who switched sides.
Mann had sought a collective audience for all AAP MLAs from Punjab, but the President’s office invited only him. Later, the chief minister declared that he would travel to Rashtrapati Bhavan with his fellow AAP legislators, who would wait outside while he presents the “concerns” of the people of the state regarding the RS members’ switch to the President.
Also Read: Raghav Chadha to meet President Murmu over ‘targeted action’ against MPs who quit AAP
The party has asked all its MLAs to reach the chief minister’s residence in Chandigarh early on Tuesday morning. “We will all start for Delhi together at 6 am from there,” a party MLA said. AAP has 94 MLAs. Mann also plans to hand over a copy of the confidence motion passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on May 1 in the wake of speculations regarding his government’s stability triggered by these defections.
Before Mann’s meeting with the President, Chadha and at least three other RS members are also slated to meet Murmu at 10.40 am to apprise her of the Punjab government’s alleged misuse of official machinery for “political vendetta” and the targeting of some of them.
Also Read: Raghav Chadha on why he left AAP along with 6 other MPs: ‘Mai unke gunaah me…’
On Saturday, reports that two FIRs were lodged against Sandeep Pathak by the Punjab Police under non-bailable sections triggered a political slugfest in the state, though there has been no official confirmation to date. Last week, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) conducted a raid on the premises of Gupta’s firm, Trident Limited. Gupta is the chairman emeritus of the company.
