Arvind Kejriwal to take action against Khaira soon

CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could soon take action against its rebel party MLA from Bholath Sukhpal Singh Khaira. It emerged following a meeting of party supremo Arvind Kejriwal with Punjab unit leadership on the sidelines of his visit to Chandigarh on Thursday.

It was more than three months back that Khaira was sacked from the post of leader of opposition (LoP). He and seven party MLAs backing him have been on war path with the party since.

Sources said that amid diminishing hope of reconciliation between the two factions, the party is likely to explore a legally tenable action against the rebel MLA. “The matter will be brought before the core committee of the party. The anti-deflection law will have to be looked into before deciding on the nature of action. The efforts at unity with the other group doesn’t seem to be working,” said a party leader, requesting anonymity.

The issues of the state were discussed in a closed-door meeting at UT guesthouse but there was no official confirmation.

The party had earlier suspended two of its MPs – Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala and Harinder Singh Khalsa from Fatehgarh Sahib. The former LoP could also be placed under suspension to ensure that the party’s count in the state assembly doesn’t go down.

Out of the 20 MLAs of the party in the Punjab assembly, 12 are aligned with the central leadership of the party. Both sides had constituted coordination committees to make efforts to reunify the party and a formal meeting was held last month. However, the blame game began soon after with either side accusing the other of trust breach.

Talking to mediapersons, Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann said efforts at unity suffered a blow after Khaira went live on social media soon after the meeting between representatives of the two factions.

There had been speculations about how the party leadership will react to Khaira’s tirade against AAP leadership. Khaira had earlier said that it hardly mattered to him even if AAP suspended him from party membership, adding that he was not against the party, but against the “button culture” by which AAP was taking important decisions about Punjab.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal also asked the state leadership to declare the remaining eight candidates for Lok Sabha by the end of the month. Kejriwal also met the five AAP candidates whose names were declared earlier this week.