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Harbhajan meets Shah weeks after BJP switch amid ‘Rajya Sabha seat sale’ feud with AAP: 'Extensive discussion'
Raghav Chadha-led rebel group's member, ex-cricketer Harbhajan Singh says “urged cooperation from the Central Government” for Punjab from Amit Shah.
Rajya Sabha MP and former cricket star Harbhajan Singh called on Union home minister Amit Shah of his new party BJP in New Delhi on Saturday, barely a week after publicly accusing the Aam Aadmi Party, which originally sent him to Parliament, of “selling” RS seats. He had promised to name those responsible but hasn't yet.
Posting a photograph of his meeting with Shah on X, Harbhajan Singh said they had “extensive discussion on important issues related to Punjab, the state's development, public welfare, and further strengthening law and order”, adding that he had "urged cooperation from the Central Government to protect the interests of Punjab and to advance the state's development."
The next Punjab assembly elections are due in approximately nine months, and the BJP is hoping to make a mark on its own there even after finishing fifth in this week's urban local bodies' polls.
Harbhajan's anger
Harbhajan Singh, who had largely been apolitical until the defection of seven AAP MPs led by Raghav Chadha, recently deployed a combative tone after AAP workers protested outside his Jalandhar house and called him “gaddar” or traitor.
On May 22, responding to AAP leader Devinder Yadav who called him a traitor and questioned why he retained a Rajya Sabha seat given by the AAP, Harbhajan Singh wrote on X: "To those calling me a traitor, first ask your own people how much the Punjab Rajya Sabha seat was sold for."
He further claimed: "I'll tell you who got how much bribe and from whose side. And how someone was made a minister or watchman to loot Punjab and deliver goods to ‘Lala’. Punjab has been looted and devoured." ‘Lala’ is colloquial Punjabi for the merchant castes and classes, such as the one Arvind Kejriwal comes from.
Harbhajan went further, “When the time comes, every word of yours will be answered. I haven't insulted any of your leaders. Why should I dirty my tongue?”
Harbhajan was among seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who defected to the BJP on April 24. The group included Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, and Swati Maliwal. All except Delhi's Maliwal were elected from Punjab by AAP MLAs.
The defectors argued the move was legally protected under anti-defection rules, as it constituted two-thirds of AAP's ten-member Rajya Sabha strength. Chadha, a founding member of the AAP, has since accused the Kejriwal-led party and Bhagwant Mann's Punjab government of being corrupt.
RS record and AAP's retort
Harbhajan had remained largely detached from his Rajya Sabha role. According to PRS Legislative Research, his attendance in the Rajya Sabha across his tenure stood at 28%, against a national average of 79% and a Punjab RS MPs' average of 75%. During one Budget Session, he did not attend a single sitting in the first leg of 10 days; his office attributed his absence to medical treatment abroad.
His election affidavit listed his profession as "Ex-Cricketer & Commentator", a description that more accurately reflected his public life. Since retiring from international cricket in 2016 and later from all formats, he has been a prominent fixture in IPL broadcast and commentary boxes.
He underlined his celebrity status when feuding with AAP: “This country has given me so much love — 20 years of raising the nation's name high on the sports field. And your people think that if they bring some tag, it will stick. It only reflects their cheap mentality.”
AAP's response to the corruption allegations has been dismissive. Senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj asked Harbhajan Singh to clarify who had allegedly received money if such payments were indeed made.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, who had convened a special one-day assembly session after the defection to demonstrate a floor majority, declared that AAP's support base “remains intact and will translate into an even bigger mandate in 2027”.
The opposition Congress has been taking potshots throughout.
Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said, "The people of Punjab deserve answers from Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann. Who sold Punjab's interests? Who traded Rajya Sabha seats?"
Congress MLA and former Team India hockey captain Pargat Singh demanded Harbhajan Singh go further, "He should now publicly tell Punjabis the full truth about the alleged purchased Rajya Sabha tickets, ministerial positions, and the claims regarding money being delivered to the ‘Lala Ji’."
He said if the BJP did not hold a press conference to reveal such facts, “it will only strengthen the belief that this is nothing more than political theatre.”
From the Shiromani Akali Dal, Bikram Singh Majithia spoke along similar lines, saying, “Rajya Sabha seats were sold, money travelled from one hand to another, and Punjab's political system was compromised. Chairmanships, ministerial berths and powerful posts were auctioned. Everything in Punjab was put up for sale.”
Evidence has not been produced so far, but AAP's choice of moneyed industrialists among its Rajya Sabha picks has been questioned by rivals. Mann has said these people were chosen based on their credentials across fields. “We could not read their minds; there's no machine for that,” the comic-turned-politician has said.
