Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's apology to a SAD leader for accusing him of drugs trade pushed the party's Punjab unit into a crisis as the state leadership contemplated breaking away and forming a separate unit, saying the "meek surrender" was painful and very unfortunate.
Kejriwal's apology to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia triggered upheaval in the state unit as AAP's Punjab unit president and co-president Bhagwant Mann and Aman Arora resigned their posts.
In a further jolt, the Lok Insaf Party (LIP), their ally in the state, announced to break its alliance with AAP in the wake of Kejriwal's apology.
"We have announced to break our alliance with the AAP. We cannot be associated with a party whose main leader meekly surrendered by tendering apology to former minister Bikram Singh Majithia," LIP leader and MLA Simrjeet Singh Bains said.
AAP state unit leaders also said they were now facing allegations whether Kejriwal had entered into an understanding with the Shiromani Akali Dal by tendering apology to Majithia in defamation case.
Kejriwal also earned wrath of the ruling Congress and SAD-BJP leaders, who accused him of being in the habit of making false allegations against his opponents to garner votes.
A two-round marathon meeting was held by the Punjab unit of AAP here in which a resolution on splitting from the Delhi unit and forming a separate unit was discussed, though a final decision was deferred.
As many as 20 MLAs including two legislators of Lok Insaf Party took part in the meeting in the morning even as a few legislators stayed away from the second round of the meeting held later in the evening.
"All MLAs condemned the apology tendered by Arvind Kejriwal without consulting the state leaders. This has made party's position in Punjab untenable and our party volunteers, our constituents and even our NRI supporters are very upset. Disussion took place what should be our next course of action, what is the next option for us.
"Two to three resolutions were kept, which were discussed thoroughly. One among these was whether we should split from the Delhi unit and form a separate unit or should we continue like this. Consensus could not be built on this even though majority MLAs wanted to break away. The members said they were very angry with this apology while others felt that they wanted to ask Delhi leadership on apology issue.
"Therefore, decision on this has been deferred for the time being," AAP senior leader from the state, Kanwar Sandhu told reporters.
Replying to a related question, Leader of Opposition and AAP senior leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira said the apology has been condemned said across the party's state unit.
"A vast majority of the leaders was of the view why a separate unit of Punjab AAP should not be formed which will have alliance with Lok Insaf Party and also forge alliance with like-minded parties and can even go to the extent of having former Punjab unit convenor Sucha Singh Chhotepur on board..," Khaira said, adding decision on this has been deferred for the time being.
Among the decisions taken at the meeting, Kanwar Sandhu said, "We have also decided that future meetings with our leadership from Delhi be held in Chandigarh".
On LIP breaking ties with the AAP, Sandhu said, "They too are upset with Kejriwal's decision and said they cannot support him anymore, but they have assured their continued support to the state unit to raise the issues concerning people of Punjab."
"Kejriwal may have apologised, but our state unit will continue its fight against drugs," Sandhu said, adding "our stand continues to remain unchanged, we demand that CBI probe drug racket case and if involvement of any political leader is found, that too should be probed by the CBI."
To a question, he said that some party MLAs did not attend the second round of meeting in the evening due to some preoccupation, but they are standing by the decisions taken in today's meeting.
"If some colleagues did not turn up, this doesn't mean we have fallen apart," he said.
AAP Punjab chief Bhagwant Mann, who was away to Delhi, and senior leader H S Phoolka also said they would support whatever decision AAP leaders from Punjab take, said Sandhu.
AAP MLAs were also of the opinion that Kejriwal should not have tenderd an apology when he himself led the charge against Majithia on drug issue during the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls.
Among other issues, drug abuse was a major issue in the Punjab Assembly elections last year, he said.
"Kejriwal was leading the charge..in such circumstances, Kejriwal's apology was painful, very unfortunate. It is like our big leader while showing psychological weakness, has surrendered," added Khaira.
Khaira said that he was getting numerous messages from volunteers and that he wanted to ensure that whatever decision is taken, it would be in the interest of Punjab.
Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu accused Kejriwal of "murdering" the AAP in Punjab by tendering his apology, while Union Minister and BJP leader Vijay Sampla said the Delhi CM can go to any extent to grab power.
Former Chief Minister and Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal said by tendering apology, Kejriwal has admitted that he had made false accusation against Akali leader.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU