Opposition finds fresh ammo in Kejriwal-Punjab MLAs’ meet: ‘split, mid-term poll imminent’

Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said while the meeting is an internal matter of the AAP, it reflects the confusion within the party after the Delhi Assembly elections were declared on February 8.

“The party will break soon. There will be mid-term polls in Punjab. When a party loses, there is a discussion within the state, and MLAs of other states are not called. They are worried that what happened in Delhi may be repeated in Punjab,” he said. “Many are in touch with Congress over the past several days,” he added.

Randhawa said the meeting should have taken place in Punjab. “Only one person (Kejriwal) would have needed to come here. The chopper and the chartered plane of Punjab would have been used to get him here. The people of Punjab would also have been able to see him,” he added.

Randhawa said he raised the issue of terrorism and repeated grenade attacks in Punjab in Parliament, and pointed out what he called the apathy of the state government — including CM Mann. “The CM did not show courage against the terror acts of Khalistanis. Pakistan is sending in drones with grenades and drugs deep inside Punjab. Why is the BSF, which has a mandate to act up to 50 km from the international border, not doing anything? I have twice written to the Home Minister for an NIA investigation into the grenade blasts on police establishments close to the Indo-Pak border but nothing has been done,“ he said.

Partap Singh Bajwa, the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, also claimed that over 30 AAP MLAs are in touch with his party, predicting potential defections and a possible mid-term poll in Punjab. Bajwa again claimed said Kejriwal might contest from Ludhiana to replace Mann as CM.

Meanwhile, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal too took a dig at Kejriwal. “Some people have started treating Punjab as their personal ATM. Today, massive corruption is rampant in Punjab.” “There is blatant sand mining at different places, corruption is there in transfer postings. People of Punjab and several MLAs are angry on this.

Arvind Kejriwal has appointed his goon Bibhav Kumar as the chief advisor of Punjab CM,” she said, adding ever since Kejriwal faced defeat in Delhi, he is planning to go to Punjab to “keep his politics alive”.

BJP leader and newly elected MLA from West Delhi’s Rajouri Garden Manjinder Singh Sirsa took a jibe at Kejriwal for holding a meeting with Punjab MLAs despite party’s defeat in Delhi.

“He is dreaming of becoming Punjab chief minister. Just like a fish out of water, Kejriwal can not live without power or luxury. The people of Punjab are self-respecting and have mellowed the arrogance of many, so, Kejriwal should stop dreaming about becoming Punjab’s CM,” he said.

Congress MP Gurjit Singh Aujla said, “If Kejriwal is holding a meeting immediately after the defeat then it has a different meaning. He has lost Delhi, so he should call Delhi leaders and brainstorm, but Punjab MLAs have been called. Both his models, Punjab and Delhi, have failed”.

Aujla said Kejriwal wants to bring about some changes in the leadership of his party’s Punjab unit. “The people of Punjab are fed up with him, no matter how many meetings he holds, it will not make any difference,” he said, adding that 24-30 AAP MLAs were in contact with the Congress.

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar took a swipe at Mann. In a post on X, Jakhar said, “While all sorts of political kite-flying about the fate of Punjab CM is going on, at least one thing can be said with certainty that whatever transpired in Kapurthala House today, it did nothing to soothe the frayed nerves of CM Mann. While interacting with the media afterwards, he seemed so distraught that ‘chutkule sunana to dur, aaj bolte hue unke apne sur, taal mel nahin kha rahe they’ (Forget about cracking jokes, today his tone and rhythm were not matching while speaking).”

BJP’s Punjab spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal, said “the one who lost the polls is giving lectures” to the elected ones. “For a 30-minute meeting, crores of Punjab’s money was wasted —MLAs, ministers, and over 1000 security personnel were rushed to  Delhi. The crux is that Punjab will still be ruled from Delhi only”.

Speaking to media persons in New Delhi, Congress MP from Chandigarh Manish Tewari said it’s a “tragedy” that “Delhi will never understand Punjab because the state has a different ethos, a culture, a syncretism, and it ticks to a different beat”.

He pointed out that Punjab, as a border state, needs to be handled very carefully and the Centre needs to have a ‘border policy’ for such states. “Any political instability in Punjab will have very severe national repercussions.

Punjab is a border state. Our western neighbour is always hyperactive in trying to subvert and destroy the peace of Punjab. Therefore, there are certain border states which need to be handled very carefully. The situation in the Northeast, Manipur, is far from stabilising and so the Government of India should really concentrate on having a border policy for the border states,” Tewari said.