Arvind Kejriwal
In a bid to control damage in the party ranks following the success of Bathinda convention of rebel MLAs called by rebel leader Sukhpal Khaira, the Punjab AAP leadership has decided to invite the party’s national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to hold a rally in the state in October.
A meeting of the district and zonal presidents of the party was held here on Saturday in which it was also unanimously decided to reject the resignation of Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and Sunam MLA Aman Arora from the posts of state unit president and co-president respectively. Both Mann and Arora had quit their posts following the apology tendered by Arvind Kejriwal to Akali leader Bikram Majithia in a defamation case filed by the latter over drug smuggling allegations against him.
Speaking to mediapersons, AAP’s state unit co-president Dr Balbir Singh said the office-bearers requested Mann and Arora to continue to lead the party. “We have sent our recommendations to the national leadership and we are sure they will agree with what we have decided today,” he said.
Dr Balbir also said Kejriwal had been requested to visit Punjab in October and address a rally. “Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Bhagwant Mann will hold a big rally in which we will announce the plans for the 2019 general elections,” he said.
Sisodia is also slated to visit Jalandhar on August 13 to take stock of the forthcoming panchayat and zila parishad polls and Mann will accompany him, Dr Balbir said.
Asked if rebel MLAs will also be invited to the party rallies and other programmes, he said all were welcome and that the endeavour of the state leadership would be to win over the trust of those MLAs and workers who had some misgivings in their minds.
Asked if the party was rattled by the success of the Bathinda convention, Dr Balbir said while the attendance was decent, it was not overwhelming. “Only seven MLAs attended the convention against the 14 projected by them. Also, nine of them were earlier present at a press conference that they held and two of them dropped off,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the party meeting, newly appointed Leader of Opposition Harpal Cheema said Khaira should not hanker after posts and should instead work for the party as a whole. “Can the fight for Punjab only be fought sitting on the chair of LoP? Can it not be fought as an MLA. I appeal to Khaira saab that he should join hands with us. These designations come and go and should not matter,” he said.
Women’s wing seeks Khaira’s apology for abuses from supporters
Led by Talwandi Sabo MLA, Baljinder Kaur, head of AAP’s women wing in Punjab, has demanded that Khaira and supporters tender an apology for the manner in which two women MLAs of the party, Rupinder Kaur Ruiby and Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, were targeted by his supporters on social media. Baljinder Kaur said constant abuses were rained on the two women by the supporters of Khaira for not attending the Bathinda convention. “Who is Khaira to say from the stage of the convention that those MLAs who have not supported them should not be allowed to enter their villages? We demand he immediately apologise or else we will take appropriate legal action. These actions are unacceptable, especially from those who profess to champion the cause of morality,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sukhpal Khaira and Kanwar Sandhu have appealed to their supporters not to say anything against the MLAs who did not attend the
convention.