NEW DELHI: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday responded to Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa’s claim that 30 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs were in contact with him.
“Pratap Singh Bajwa has been saying this for almost three years. Let him say whatever he wants. I would ask Pratap Singh Bajwa to count how many MLAs they (Congress) have in Delhi,” Mann told reporters.
Mann also said, “He (Bajwa) has been making claims earlier also that 20 MLAs or 40 MLAs are in touch with him. Let them say it. We have formed this party with our sweat and blood, going among people in villages and towns in the state.”
After AAP’s loss in the Delhi assembly elections, Bajwa claimed that an internal struggle would start between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. He also said that over 30 AAP MLAs were in contact with the Congress and were ready to switch sides.
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, however, denied that AAP MLAs were in touch with either the BJP or Congress. He said Congress does not support breaking other parties but is observing the political situation in Punjab.
“BJP has a history of horse-trading and breaking parties—we have seen this in Maharashtra, Goa, Manipur also. They will try to do this in Punjab as well. As far as Congress is concerned, we do not believe in breaking parties. Our party’s state leadership is monitoring the situation over there,” Tiwari said while talking to news agency ANI.
Earlier in the day, Mann arrived at Kapurthala House in New Delhi for a meeting with AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal amid reports of differences within AAP.
“Our MLAs reached here, and we had a meeting with party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. He thanked them all for campaigning during the Delhi Assembly elections. Our government in Punjab has always worked for public welfare, whether in education or infrastructure. We need to speed up… Winning and losing is a part of the game. People of Delhi still remember us as someone who worked for them. We have two years more in Punjab. We will make Punjab a good model,” Mann told the media.
AAP, which had ruled Delhi for ten years, won only 22 out of 70 seats in the February 5 elections, while the BJP secured a majority, ending AAP’s rule in the capital.
There is also speculation that Kejriwal may take a bigger role in Punjab politics, with discussions about him contesting the vacant Ludhiana Assembly seat. However, AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang dismissed these reports, calling the meeting a “routine strategy session.”
Meanwhile, BJP leader Rohini Vijender Gupta criticized AAP, saying the party is struggling after its defeat in the Delhi elections.
“Kejriwal is doing a meeting, but it is a sinking ship. They are trying to keep their people together…but it will not last long,” Gupta said.