A day after Rupinder Kaur Ruby, the Bathinda Rural MLA quit the Aam Aadmi Party, she was inducted into the Congress in the presence of Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in Chandigarh.
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Besides Channi and Sidhu, the Punjab Congress affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary and finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who is the Bathinda Urban Congress MLA, were among those present at the induction ceremony on Wednesday.
In her first remarks after joining the party, Ruby said: “The Congress is the asli aam aadmi (real common man’s) party and is headed by a woman leader.”
Ruby’s exit is being seen as a setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab in the run-up to the assembly elections early next year.
Tweeted resignation to Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann
In a tweet on Tuesday night, the 33-year-old first-time MLA addressed her resignation to AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab unit head Bhagwant Mann. “This is to inform u that I am resigning with immediate effect from the membership of Aam Aadmi Party. Please accept my resignation. Thx Rupinder Kaur Ruby. (MLA Bti.rural),” her tweet read.
{{/usCountry}}In a tweet on Tuesday night, the 33-year-old first-time MLA addressed her resignation to AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab unit head Bhagwant Mann. “This is to inform u that I am resigning with immediate effect from the membership of Aam Aadmi Party. Please accept my resignation. Thx Rupinder Kaur Ruby. (MLA Bti.rural),” her tweet read.
{{/usCountry}}Last month, Ruby had backed Mann for the party’s chief minister face and was said to be cut up with the leadership over the delay in making the announcement.
Faceoff with Harpal Cheema over exit
Though Ruby did not cite any reason for her decision to quit the party, AAP legislature party leader Harpal Singh Cheema said that Ruby was not going to get the AAP ticket and, therefore, joining the Congress. “Rupinder Ruby is our younger sister, be happy wherever you go. This time, she had no chance of getting a ticket from the AAP so she is joining the Congress. The Congress is requested not to cheat Ruby and should give her the ticket from Bathinda Rural,” Cheema tweeted.
Hitting back at Cheema, Ruby accused him of not raising his voice for the party leaders or the people of Punjab. “When it was time for you to speak, you did not say anything. You neither raised your voice for the people of Punjab nor for Bhagwant Mann. As for the ticket, you can contest against me,” she tweeted, throwing a challenge to the legislature party chief.