In a major jolt to the Aam Admi Party (AAP), its four key leaders, including a founder member and State vice-president, quit the party to join the Congress on Sunday. The “disillusioned” leaders alleged large-scale corruption and scams in Arvind Kejriwal’s party.
AAP’s founder member and sitting state vice-president Colonel CM lakhanpal decided to party ways with the party along with PK Sharma, Colonel Iqbal Pannu and Barpur Singh—all key organisational members.
Highly educated and qualified, all these leaders expressed their total disillusionment with AAP, which they said has become a “party of corrupt and exploitative individuals” who were only interested in boosting their personal vested interests.
The new joinees, expressing their unconditional support for the Punjab Congress led by Capt Amarinder Singh, described the former Chief Minister as a “people’s leader” with a feel of the pulse of Punjab and exceptional credentials backed by exemplary track record.
All the leaders had played an important role in the organisational matters of AAP, which they said was now virtually “defunct” as a political force in Punjab.
They said that AAP had failed to come up to the expectations of the people and their agenda was only to make Punjab prosperous again.
Colonel lakhanpal, who was responsible for holding all major functions of the party in Punjab besides being party’s ludhiana Zone head, said: “AAP was once a principles based party but had compromised on those and had started bringing in people with shady background as candidates.”
Citing examples of Bains brothers — Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjeet Singh Bains — who recently joined AAP, he said that it was no longer possible to continue with AAP, given its current State.
The party that once had corruption as its main plank, now had more than 60 of the party candidates with shady background, he said.
PK Sharma, the group coordinator, is grandson of Sangrur District Congress president Pt Ramgopal Sharma. Sharma left Canada to join AAP during Anna Hazare movement but soon got disillusioned with the “deep-rooted malaise” in the party and decided to join the Congress.
Another important new entrant to Congress is founder member Col Iqbal Pannu, the senior vice-president of AAP’s Trade and Transport, as well as Industrial Wing.
Barpur Singh was AAP’s sector coordinator and responsible for handling three assembly constituencies of Punjab. He is also the leader of Ramgarhia SC wing, and had been associated with AAP for two and a half years.
Besides them, leaders who have played a significant role in the organisational matters of AAP have also quit the party to join the Congress.
Welcoming them into the party fold, state Congress chief Capt Amarinder said that AAP’s graph in Punjab was declining every day, even as he dismissed as humbug Kejriwal’s charges of a nexus between the Congress and the Akalis.
“Kejriwal and his team are spreading misinformation, and circulating pictures with fake connotations to mislead the people,” said Capt Amarinder, adding that he had met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal only once, as a condolence call, on the death of his wife.
He said that Kejriwal had come to Punjab with certain proclaimed principles which attracted the people, who, however, soon got disillusioned. “AAP has absolutely no standing in the state and had brought 50,000 people from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for campaigning,” he said.
Capt Amarinder also made it clear that new entrants, joining the party, would be put up as candidates only where the Congress did not have a good winnable client.