Arora, Mann thwarted my efforts to reach out to NRIs: AAP MLA Kanwar Sandhu

Sandhu said that as a result of this the NRIs felt neglected, left in the lurch and “used.” “Instead of introspecting, it has now been decided to disband the NRI units by some people who have no support whatsoever among overseas Punjabis. Let me assure overseas Punjabis that we remain committed to the cause that is dear to all of us – in and outside Punjab,” he said.

Sandhu told The Indian Express that he was to be appointed as the Punjab overseas convenor of the party in 2017 and that its national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, and the then overseas in-charge of the party, Kumar Vishwas, had both agreed to the proposal mooted by Sukhpal Khaira. “However, later I was told by Kejriwal that the proposal had been put on hold and it was later found out that Bhagwant and Aman had not agreed to the proposal,” he said.

When contacted, Aman Arora said Sandhu was telling only “half the story.” “The fact is that when Sukhpal Khaira proposed the name of Sandhu, I and Bhagwant Mann fully supported the idea. We had just one point to make that at that time the party structure was still built-up and we felt that such appointments should only be made when the state body was fully functional,” he said.

Arora said that he was in the US meeting NRIs when he learnt that the Kumar Vishwas had even tweeted about Sandhu’s appointment. “This was a bit unfair because on one hand, we were harping on autonomy for the state unit but on the other hand we were bypassing the state executive body and getting appointments announced by the central leadership. This was the only objection we raised on procedural issues and Khaira’s main NRI supporters-Manjinder Sandhu and Raj Toor-are witness to it. I even went around in the US hailing the appointment of Sandhu as Punjab overseas convenor,” said Arora.

Meanwhile, commenting on the way forward among the NRI community, Sandhu said the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) would meet in the coming days and will take a call on a host of issues. “This includes the issue of NRI supporters of our party as well as several other organisational matters,” he said. However, sources within the party say that the dissidents are going to go ahead and appoint their own overseas organisational structure and appoint office-bearers.