E-Paper
President meets: Mann seeks AAP defectors’ recall, Chadha alleges vendetta politics
Their entry into the BJP does not provide them suraksha kavach (protection). If there are any complaints against them, FIRs will be filed and action taken, says Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann met President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Tuesday, seeking the “recall” of seven Rajya Sabha members who recently quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mann, who travelled to the national capital along with party MLAs, also submitted a representation signed by them to the President, requesting action against six of the seven MPs elected from Punjab.
While the chief minister met Murmu alone at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 12 noon, his ministers and MLAs were stopped near Rail Bhavan. Seven MPs, constituting two-thirds of the AAP’s total strength of 10 in the Upper House, switched to the BJP on April 24. They include Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney (all from Punjab), and Swati Maliwal (Delhi).
Ahead of the chief minister’s meeting with Murmu, Chadha and three other rebel MPs also called on the President, alleging “vendetta politics” by the “revengeful” AAP government in Punjab, which “misused and abused the official machinery” to target them after they left the party. “The AAP has a government in one state and control over its police. The BJP has governments in 21 states and control over their police forces. The dirty game of revenge that you are starting, you cannot imagine where it will stop,” Chadha said. Both sides had separately sought appointments.
After the meeting, Mann said he apprised the President of the “murder of democracy” by the seven Rajya Sabha members, who got together, formed a separate group and then merged with another party. “This is a breach of the Constitution. Only two-thirds of a party can split and merge with another party. How can six to seven MPs from one House of Parliament claim a split, form a separate party and then merge with another party? This kind of arbitrariness cannot be allowed,” he said.
Mann also pointed out that the BJP has two MLAs in the Punjab assembly and six Rajya Sabha members from the state. “How can this happen? Is this not a mockery of the Constitution?” he told the media, demanding a constitutional provision to enable the “recall” of elected MPs. The AAP leader added that they (rebel MPs) should have resigned from the Rajya Sabha before joining the party (BJP) they now feel a connection with. “Punjab will not tolerate this kind of betrayal,” he said.
‘Joining BJP no suraksha kavach’
Responding to Chadha’s allegations of vendetta politics, Mann said that if anyone had done something wrong or if there were complaints, action would be taken. He said that joining the BJP did not guarantee them a “suraksha kavach (protective shield) or immunity from FIRs and legal action.”
He further alleged that the BJP-led central government had inducted tainted people and then withdrawn cases against them. “This will not happen in Punjab. In future, if there are any complaints or reports of wrongdoing against them, FIRs will be filed and action taken. Their entry into the BJP does not provide them protection from cases,” he asserted. On Chadha’s remark about the BJP having governments in 21 states, Mann retorted: “Are they trying to threaten us? Will you register 21 cases? Punjabis do not tolerate this…If anyone tries to arm-twist, they respond with fivefold force.”
In the morning, Mann, along with most of the AAP MLAs, left for Delhi from his official residence in Chandigarh. While the chief minister travelled in his official vehicle, the ministers and MLAs followed him in three buses. They carried placards with photographs of the rebel MPs, calling them “traitors of Punjab”.
“All the MLAs are with us. They are standing like a rock,” the CM said before starting for Delhi. AAP’s Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia personally supervised the entire programme.
Since there is no provision in the Constitution for the recall of an elected MP, Mann’s move to parade his MLAs in Delhi is widely viewed as a “show of strength” and an attempt to display the party’s “unity” in the state amid speculation about the government’s stability following the defections.
AAP state president Aman Arora said all the party MLAs went to Delhi to expose the BJP and the defectors, accusing them of violating all constitutional norms and making a mockery of democracy. “This has sent a strong message that there is complete discipline and unity in the party,” he asserted. The AAP has 94 MLAs in Punjab. According to two party leaders, all but about half a dozen MLAs travelled to the national capital.
Will be their next target: Chadha
Earlier, Chadha and other MPs – Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal and Rajinder Gupta – met the President, alleging that the AAP-led Punjab government was misusing the state’s official machinery to target some of them. They also submitted a representation detailing the alleged “harassment” and “politically motivated” action against them following their exit from the AAP.
“All those MPs who exercised their constitutional right to express disagreement with the AAP and chose to quit it, and all these incidents, have been presented before the President. As long as we were in the AAP, we were considered obedient, we were considered cultured. As soon as we left the party, we were branded corrupt,” Chadha told the media after the meeting.
Chadha alleged that the AAP was indulging in dangerous vendetta politics, citing instances of “systematic targeting” of former cricketer Harbhajan Singh and industrialist Rajinder Gupta. He also claimed that cases were registered against Sandeep Pathak, adding that these FIRs were not worth the paper they were written on and the judiciary would tear them apart.
“According to sources, I will be their next target. The Punjab government hired agencies to threaten us on social media,” he alleged. He also made an appeal to Punjab government officials, urging them not to act under political pressure. “Do not succumb to threat of transfer or suspension. Act according to law and in the national interest. It is only a matter of a few months,” he said. In a post after the meeting, Chadha said the party that once cried vendetta was now practising its most toxic form. “We take strength from the President’s assurance that constitutional rights and democratic choices must be respected. AAP today behaves less like a political party and more like an obsessed, jilted ex — bitter, vindictive, and unable to move on,” he wrote.
