The decision of two AAP legislators — Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Amarjit Singh Sandoa — of not toeing the party line has left the main Opposition party red faced on the first day of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Budget Session on Tuesday.
In an embarrassment for the party, its two MLAs kept sitting in the House when the rest of its MLAs staged a walkout over the issue of drug problem in the state, during the Governor’s address. Led by the Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira, 14 out of 16 AAP MLAs present in the House, along with two legislators of the Lok Insaaf Party, staged a walkout.
For the same, the two have been issued a show-cause notice.
The incident took place at a time when AAPs Punjab unit was facing crisis following an apology tendered by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia for accusing him of being involved in drugs trade, followed by resignations by party’s Punjab unit president Bhagwant Mann and its co-president Aman Arora.
Addressing the state legislature, when Governor VP Singh Badnore pointed out the state government’s achievement in handling drugs problem, Khaira stood up from his seat and described the statement as a “bundle of lies” and “government’s mouthpiece”, demanding action against former minister Majithia.
As 14 AAP MLAs staged a walkout, Sandhwan and Sandoa kept sitting, defying the party line.
Khaira later described the incident as “very painful” saying that a show cause notice would be issued to the two MLAs for embarrassing the party in the Assembly.
“When it was decided in a meeting yesterday that all MLAs will stage a walkout during the Governor’s address, two legislators kept sitting. They are trying to give signal that they are against the party and are trying to toe the government line, which is completely unacceptable,” said Khaira.
He said they will be called for explanation in case this kind of “disobedience” recur in the future.
Sandhwan, Kotkapura MLA, claimed that he was not in the meeting called yesterday for forming a strategy for the session.
He also disagreed with the other MLAs for staging the walkout, saying that the dignity of the House during the Governor’s address should be upheld. “I did not find it right to stage walkout with other MLAs when days have been fixed for discussion on Governor’s address,” he added.
The other legislator, Sandoa, said that he did not know about the party’s decisions as he had attended yesterday’s meeting only for a few minutes. The MLA from Ropar had recently accused Kahira of trying to break the party due to “vested interests”.
Meanwhile, Khaira, while replying to a query on Kejriwal’s apology to Majithia, said that the state unit of the AAP will decide on its next course of action after the budget session of the Assembly.
AAP MLAs from Punjab had discussed the option of splitting and forming a separate unit as they were upset with Kejriwal’s apology. However, the decision was deferred as a consensus could not be built over this issue. On Sunday, 10 AAP MLAs from Punjab had even met Kejriwal in Delhi over the issue.