NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party leader
Bhagwant Mann today resigned from the post of party's Punjab president following Arvind
Kejriwal's apology to Shiromani Akali Dal leader
Bikram Singh Majithia.
"I am resigning as a president of AAP Punjab... but my fight against drug mafia and all kind of corruption in Punjab will continue as an “Aam Aadmi “of Punjab," he said in a tweet.
Yesterday, Kejriwal in a letter retracted his allegations that former Punjab minister Majithia was involved in drug trade and apologized to him.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that people like Majithia deserve to be in jail and added that Kejriwal's apology has left many people "unhappy".
"Many people are unhappy (with
Arvind Kejriwal's apology). I hope justice will be done as people like BS Majithia deserve to be in jail," Singh said.
Terming the allegations levied by Kejriwal "a false propaganda", Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that Kejriwal's apology letter has exposed the "cheap politics".
"This exposes cheap politics by AAP, they spread false propaganda. They build their entire election campaign (in Punjab) on a lie, good that he has accepted his lies,” Badal said.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu Called Kejriwal's apology "murder of AAP in Punjab".
"It is a let down to the people of Punjab. I feel Kejriwal has murdered AAP in Punjab. It is as if their existence has been wiped off. With what face will they speak against drugs in Punjab now? He said.
In the letter, submitted to the Amritsar court, Kejriwal said, “In the recent past I made certain statements and allegations against you regarding your alleged involvement in drug trade. These statements became a political issue. Now I have learnt that allegations are unfounded. Hence there should be no politics on such issues.”
The letter added, “Because of my allegations made against you at various political rallies, public meetings, TV programs, print, electronic and social media, you filed a defamation case against us...I hereby withdraw all my statements and allegations and apologise for the same. The damage caused to your esteem, the hurt caused to your family, friends, well-wishers, followers and the loss caused to you is regretted.”
Majithia had filed a criminal defamation case on May 20, 2016, against Kejriwal and AAP leaders Sanjay Singh (now a Rajya Sabha MP) and Ashish Khetan for falsely linking him to the drug trade and tarnishing his image. The case is pending in an Amritsar court.
Following his apology, Majithia said he would now withdraw the defamation case.
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