The ongoing power struggle within the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab unit is doing more harm than benefit, with lok Sabha election just less than a year away. As its top leaders engage in fiery slinging match with each other, they are revealing the realities of the ‘dirty political game’ AAP has been playing over these years.
The two power centres — one is the rebel faction led by Bholath MlA Sukhpal Khaira and another owing allegiance to Delhi Durbar — are at loggerheads with the leveling of allegations and counter-allegations against each other since the party replaced Khaira with Dirba MPA Harpal Singh Cheema as its new leader of opposition on July 26.
Day after a war of words between Khaira and AAP’s state unit president Bhagwant Mann, the former leader of Opposition on Wednesday accused the comedian-turned-politician of being party of AAP high command’s “strategy” of party supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s “controversial” apology to the SAD leader Bikram Majithia in a defamation case as was revealed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to him.
That was not all! He even claimed that the party’s central leadership had also asked him to step down from the leader of Opposition’s post with the high command’s consent.
Khaira claimed that Mann's resignation after Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal’s apology to Majithia was tendered as a part of strategy with the consent of the party’s Delhi leadership.
Sangrur MP Mann, along with the state co-president Aman Arora, had resigned from the post of AAP’s state unit president in March this year after Kejriwal apologized for levelling charges of involvement in drugs trade against Majithia. The leadership has, only recently, rejected their resignations and asked to continue on their posts.
“I want to ask Bhagwant Mann that you gave resignation on Kejriwal's apology...You have now accepted the post of state unit chief. Does it mean that issue of Kejriwal's apology has ended for you and you have given your approval to it,” asked Khaira.
Khaira said: “During a meeting at my home four months back, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia told me that you react too early on every issue. He told me that Mann's resignation was a part of strategy and he resigned with our consent.”
MANN’S OUTBURST OUT OF SHEER FRUSTRATION, PERSONAl HATRED
day after Mann’s “outburst” against Khaira and party’s MlA from Kharar Kanwar Sandhu accusing them of breaking the party and being “opportunists”, Bholath MlA claimed that it was “out of sheer frustration and personal hatred” against them.
Rebutting Mann's charge of him being an “opportunist”, Khaira said that he entered politics with Congress in 1997 and joined AAP in December 2015. “But Mann was first with lok Bhalai Party, then he joined Manpreet Badal’s PPP (People’s Party of Punjab) and thereafter he moved into AAP. And now he calls us opportunist. People will judge him,” he said.
Khaira, responding to Mann's allegations that he was fighting only for the “chair”, Khaira said that his statement had upset him. “I was not expecting such a statement from Mann. He had described me as courageous in his tweet,” he said.
RAISED ISSUE OF AUTONOMY FOR STATE UNIT
Kharar MlA Kanwar Sandhu asked Bhagwant Mann and other MlAs if they opposed the call for autonomy for the Punjab unit.
“We are compelled to raise the voice for autonomy in Punjab unit after party's graph is sliding fast in the state…After we went through the party's constitution, we came to know that the party has given immense power to volunteers. There has not been any state political affairs committee (PAC) and state executive committee yet in the state.