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Three rebel Punjab AAP MLAs meet Rahul, hit out at Kejriwal
Former leader of opposition in Punjab assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Jagdev Singh Kamalu and Pirmal Singh Khalsa had joined the Congress on June 3
Three rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs led by former leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who all had joined the Congress on June 3, met former party president and Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi on Thursday.
Khaira, Jagdev Singh Kamalu and Pirmal Singh Khalsa, who had rebelled against the AAP leadership two-and-a-half years ago, met Rahul at his Delhi residence. All India Congress Committee general secretary Harish Rawat, who is in charge of Punjab affairs, was also present.
The three legislators were inducted into the party by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh before he left to meet the three-member committee constituted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to look into factionalism in the state unit.
Khaira said they called on Rahul Gandhi to thank him for allowing them to serve the party. “We are extremely grateful to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar for giving us an opportunity,” the two-time MLA from Bholath posted on social media with photos of their meeting.
Khaira, who had left the Congress in 2015, said his decision to join the AAP was a “big blunder” because there was no internal democracy in the party. “It (AAP) is a one-man show and there is nothing beyond (Delhi CM and national convener) Arvind Kejriwal,” he said after the meeting.
The three MLAs were with Rahul for close to 15 minutes during which the latter asked Khaira about his AAP experience and the party’s functioning. Kamalu and Khalsa are first-time MLAs from Maur and Bhadaur assembly constituencies, respectively. The trio, along with some other MLAs, had fallen out with the AAP leadership after Kejriwal tendered an apology to Akali leader Bikram Majithia in a defamation case.
Khaira later floated his Punjab Ekta Party and unsuccessfully contested from the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency in 2019. Another rebel AAP MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia had joined the Congress just days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
