Summoned as an additional accused in a drug case, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MlA Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Tuesday virtually paraded 16 MlAs before the media to display his strength as the leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
Khaira was under pressure not only from the rival political parties - the ruling Congress and the SAD-BJP coalition, but also from his own party men to step down from the coveted post following his alleged involvement in a 2015 drug case.
Refusing to step down by buckling under any pressure, neither from inside the party nor from outside, Khaira reiterated that a conspiracy was hatched against him.
The development came days after a section of party MlAs reportedly held a meeting and reached a consensus that Khaira should step down on moral grounds. Along with this, murmurs of dissent turned into boisterous voices within the divided AAP with many other leaders going public in seeking Khaira’s resignation.
Even as Khaira claimed support of his party MlAs, six out of total 20 legislators were conspicuous by their absence. Among them include Khaira’s predecessor HS Phoolka, former journalist Kanwar Sandhu, senior leader Prof Baljinder Kaur among others.
Party’s state unit president and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, who was also invited by Khaira to attend the meeting convened by him, chose to stay away.
AAP’s ally, lok Insaaf Party’s Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjeet Singh Bains, too came out in Khaira’s support.
Those present demanded action against the rebels while authorising AAP’s state’s co-president and Sunam MlA Aman Arora for recommending the same.
“The remaining MlAs could not attend the meeting due to their prior personal engagements while Kanwar Sandhu was out of country these days,” Khaira said.
Controversy erupted after a court issued non-baliable warrant against Khaira and some other leaders in connection with a cross-border heroin smuggling case, dating back to 2015. Khaira is suspected of having links to Gurdev Singh, a former chairman of the Dhilwan Market Committee, who was sentenced to 20 years of jail on drug charges on November 2 - accusations categorically denied by Khaira.
Terming the summons “politically motivated” and out of vendetta, Khaira moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which in an interim order, a day before, stayed the non-bailable warrant issued against him by the Fazilka court.
Khaira had challenged the summons issued by the Fazilka Additional Sessions Judge to haiar as an accused in a 2015 case. The High Court will hold a final hearing on Khaira’s plea on Thursday.
The development has brought forth the widening fissures within the party. So much so that Khaira minced no words to say that some oif his own party colleagues have “backstabbed” him.
SAD stages massive protest to ‘gherao’ Kejriwal’s residence
New Delhi: Demanding immediate expulsion of Sukhpal Khaira from AAP’s primary membership, SAD on Tuesday held a massive protest to gherao AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.
Protesting MlAs and workers braved lathi-charge, water cannons and barricades put in their way and registered their protest by demanding Kejriwal to come clean on the issue immediately.
They also asked Kejriwal to explain to Punjabis why he had led a malicious campaign against Punjabi youth on the issue of drugs and why he was now adopting a studied silence when AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira had been summoned as an accused in a drug smuggling case by a Fazilka court in which his accomplices had been handed over a 20-year sentence.